FRANCIS    LIEBER 

HIS    LIFE,    TIMES,    AND    POLITICAL 
PHILOSOPHY 


FRANCIS  LIEBER 


HIS  LIFE  AND  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY 


BY 


LEWIS    R.    HARLEY,    PH.D. 


THE   COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY   PRESS 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY,   AGENTS 
66  FIFTH  AVENUE 

1899 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1899, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY. 


Novboootj  -press 

J.  S.  Gushing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Mass.  U.S.A. 


TO   MY   FORMER  TEACHER 

JOHN    BACH    McMASTER,    Lrrr.D. 

233)10  Uolume  10  Enscrifati 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume  is  the  result  of  studies  in  history  and 
politics  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  where  those 
portions  of  the  work  relating  to  political  philosophy 
were  read  in  the  seminary  conducted  by  Dr.  Edmund 
J.  James.  The  author  subsequently  decided  to  prepare 
a  biography  of  Lieber,  and  thus  present  in  a  single 
volume  the  story  of  his  life  and  an  exposition  of  his 
political  writings.  The  subject  is  an  interesting  one, 
beginning  with  that  exciting  period  of  German  history 
when  the  gymnasia  and  the  universities  developed  a 
new  type  of  manhood  that  insisted  on  national  unity 
and  constitutional  government.  After  tracing  the 
career  of  Lieber  through  many  vicissitudes,  it  is  a 
labor  of  great  profit  to  study  his  life  and  writings  in 
a  new  sphere  of  activity  in  the  United  States.  No  one 
can  examine  his  works  without  being  impressed  with 
the  personality  of  the  man.  He  was  fond  of  looking  l 
at  the  moral  side  of  political  life.  No  Right  without 
its  Duties,  no  Duty  without  its  Rights,  was  his  favorite 
motto,  and  this  lofty  sentiment  pervades  all  his  books. 
His  aptitude  for  historical  studies  enabled  him  to  look 
at  the  progress  of  the  nations  with  a  true  perspective, 


viii  PREFACE 

thus  rendering  his  advice  of  great  value.  He  had  a 
marked  influence  on  the  thinking  of  men  who  grew 
up  in  the  middle  of  this  century,  and  at  the  present 
day  it  would  be  well  for  the  young  citizen  to  read  care 
fully  his  great  treatises  on  the  state. 

Menzel  claims  that  Germany  has  derived  no  benefit 
from  the  emigration  of  her  sons ;  but  Lieber  enriched 
the  fatherland,  as  well  as  America,  with  his  great  pro 
ductions  on  civil  liberty.  His  influence  as  an  educator 
led  to  a  deeper  respect  in  this  country  for  German  cul 
ture,  and  thus  Germany  has  been  well  repaid  for  her 
contributions  to  our  civilization. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work  the  author  has  re 
ceived  valuable  assistance  from  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White, 
Ithaca,  N.Y.,  Hon.  M.  Russell  Thayer,  Philadelphia, 
Judge-Advocate  General  G.  Norman  Lieber,  Washing 
ton,  D.C.,  Professor  Edmund  J.  James,  University  of 
Chicago,  Professor  Albert  H.  Smyth,  Central  High 
School,  Philadelphia,  and  Professor  J.  H.  Van  Amringe, 
Columbia  University. 

LEWIS   R.   HARLEY. 

CENTRAL  HIGH  SCHOOL,  PHILADELPHIA, 
April,  25,  1899. 


CONTENTS 
i 

PAGE 

Early  Life  —  School  Days  —  The  Waterloo  Campaign  —  Imprisonment 

—  Flight  to  Greece i 

II 

Life  in  Rome  —  Niebuhr — Return  to  Prussia  —  Departure  for  England      33 

III 

Lieber's  Arrival  in  America — Eight  Years  of  Struggle — Professorship 

in  South  Carolina  College 51 

IV 

His  Southern  Exile — Longing  for  the  North  —  Visits  Europe  —  His 

Resignation 70 


The  Call  to  Columbia  College  in  the  City  of  New  York  —  Life  in  the 

North 82 

VI 
Lieber's  Views  on  Education—  His  Position  as  a  Teacher     .        .        .100 

VII 

Political   Philosophy:    Political   Ethics  —  Legal  and   Political   Herme- 
neutics  —  Civil   Liberty  —  Penal   Law  —  The   Pardoning  Power  — 

Our  Constitution •     117 

ix 


x  CONTENTS 

VIII 

PACK 

Political  Philosophy  (Continued)  :  International  Law— Military  Law    .     141 

IX 

Lieber  as  an  American  —  Opinion  of  England,  Germany,  and  France  — 

His  Attitude  on  Partisan  Questions 155 

X 

Range  of  his  Studies  —  Methods  of  Work  —  Extensive  Correspondence    168 

XI 

Religious  Views  —  Personal  Character 181 


APPENDIX.     .  195 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 199 

INDEX ......    209 


The  whole  earth  is  the  monument  of  illustrious  men.  —  PERICLES. 
Non  scholae  discimus,  sed  vitae.  —  SENECA. 
Patria  cara,  carior  Libertas,  Veritas  carissima.  —  LIBBER. 
Aristotle  forever,  but  truth  even  for  longer  than  that.  —  LIBBER. 
No  Right  without  its  Duties,  no  Duty  without  its  Rights.  —  LIBBER. 


FRANCIS    LIEBER 


i 


EARLY    LIFE  — SCHOOL    DAYS THE    WATERLOO     CAMPAIGN 

IMPRISONMENT FLIGHT    TO    GREECE 

IN  the  closing  chapter  of  his  "  History  of  Germany," 
Wolfgang  Menzel  shows  in  an  interesting  manner 
how  famine,  religious  persecution,  and  despotism  have 
scattered  the  Germans  far  and  wide  over  the  face  of 
the  globe.  These  emigrants  turned  in  large  numbers 
to  America,  as  a  land  of  promise,  and  Menzel  claims 
that  the  peasants  who  made  their  permanent  home  in 
the  United  States  formed  the  flower  of  the  German 
colonists  in  the  West.1  But  this  tide  of  emigration 
consisted  not  only  of  the  German  peasantry,  who  settled 
along  our  western  frontier,  and  exposed  themselves  to 
the  ravages  of  the  Indians ;  the  patriot,  the  author,  the 
professor,  and  the  student  from  the  halls  of  the  univer 
sity,  also  found  here  an  asylum  of  liberty.  Thus,  German 
tyranny  added  to  our  population  a  group  of  young  men 
who  became  an  intellectual  power  to  the  nation,  and 

1  "  History  of  Germany,"  by  Wolfgang  Menzel,  vol.  3,  p.  449. 


2  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

who  honored  both  their  fatherland  and  America  by  the 
fruits  of  scholarship  and  a  zealous  defence  of  free  insti 
tutions.  Prominent  among  the  number  was  Francis 
Lieber,  the  subject  of  this  biography. 

JTo  write  a  biography  of  Francis  Lieber  is  to  tell  the 
story  of  a  life  dedicated  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  by  blood, 
word,  and  pen.  Born  in  the  city  of  Berlin,  March  18, 
1800,  his  career  belongs  to  a  period  of  world-important 
events.  He  received  his  patriotic  consecration  as  a 
mere  boy,  and  in  the  period  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  he 
learned  the  vital  importance  of  German  unity.  In 
defence  of  this  principle,  he  shed  his  blood  at  Waterloo ; 
while  as  a  student  he  labored  with  great  enthusiasm  to 
promote  the  national  feeling.  When  he  realized  at  last 
that  there  was  no  freedom  at  home,  he  decided  to  become 
a  political  exile.  In  1827,  he  came  to  the  United  States, 
where,  as  a  teacher  and  author,  he  expounded  the  princi 
ples  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  the  rights  and  duties 
of  the  citizen  in  a  free  state. 

/Francis  Lieber  was  the  tenth  child  of  Frederick  Wil 
liam  Lieber,  an  iron  dealer  in  Berlin,  whose  family  con 
sisted  of  nine  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  father  at 
one  time  possessed  considerable  wealth,  but  he  lost  much 
of  his  property  in  the  war  with  Poland.  The  grand 
father  had  also  experienced  the  fortunes  of  war,  having 
been  wounded  and  carried  away  a  prisoner  when  the 
Russians  pillaged  Berlin  in  1760.  The  Lieber  family 
resided  in  the  Breite  Strasse,  the  scene  of  the  terrible 


SCHOOL   DAYS  3 

struggle  between  the  king's  troops  and  the  people  in 
the  revolution  of  1848.     From  his  earliest  years,  young 
Lieber  aspired  to  distinction,  and  exhibited  the  won 
derful  enthusiasm   that   distinguished    him    throughout 
life.     He  was  not  especially  ambitious  during  his  first 
years  at  school,  owing  to  a  dislike  for  Professor  Hartung, 
who  showed  his  partiality  and  favoritism  to  the  rich  and 
titled  scholars.     His  instruction  in  theology  was  given 
by  Pastor  Pauli,  a  man  for  whom  he  had  the  greatest 
respect.     In  his  conduct,  Lieber  was  wild  and  inatten 
tive,  trying  the  patience  of  his   teachers.     He  became 
much   unsettled    by  continually  striving   to    win   fame. 
His  first  idea  was  to  be  a  second  General  Schill,  and  to 
this  end  he  studied  for  a  while  in  the  Pepiniere,  a  school 
for  the  training  of  surgeons.     He  also  desired  to  be  a 
Linnaeus,    and    actually    began   work    in    the    Botanic 
Garden,  near  Berlin;    but  the  cruel  treatment  that  he 
received  from  the  director  of   the  Garden   soon  led  to 
another  change  of  occupation.     Thus  the  boy  was  con 
stantly  aiming  to  imitate  great  men,  a  feeling  which  in 
his  manhood  developed  into  an  honorable  ambition  to 
accomplish  something  for  himself  j 

At  the  beginning  of  this  century,  the  German  states 
had  not  only  lost  all  national  energy,  but  their  conquest 
was  threatened  by  Napoleon.  To  a  youth  of  Lieber's 
ideal  nature  the  preparations  for  war  then  being  made 
were  a  strong  impulse  to  patriotism.  Prussia  was, 
indeed,  a  military  camp,  and  serious  efforts  were  put 


4  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

forth  to  rescue  the  country  from  the  follies  and  vices 
of   the   preceding   century.      The    revolutionary  move 
ments    in   France  were   followed    by  various    forms    of 
immorality,   which    swept   like   a   pestilence   into    Ger 
many,  being  sheltered  by  the  new  doctrines  of  human 
ism.     The  courts  were  infected,  and  the  middle  classes 
were    rendered   weak   at    the    very   time    when    there 
should   have   been    a    display   of   every   manly   virtue. 
Menzel  says :  "  Good  and  evil  advanced  hand  in  hand, 
as  enlightenment    progressed.      Men,  confused  by  the 
novelty  of   the  ideas  propounded,  were  at  first  unable 
to    discern    their    real    value.       The    transition    from 
ancient  to  modern  times  had,  however,  become  neces 
sary,  and   was   greatly  facilitated   by  the    tolerance   of 
the   great   sovereign   of    Prussia,  who,  notwithstanding 
that,  by  his  predilection  for  French  philosophy  and  his 
inclination  toward  rationalism,  he  at  first  gave  a  false 
bias   to   the   moral   development   of    Germany,   greatly 
accelerated   its   progress.       He   gave   his    subjects   full 
liberty  to  believe,  think,  say,  write,  and  publish  what 
ever  they  deemed    proper,  extended    his   protection   to 
those  who   sought   shelter  within    his   territories   from 
the  persecution  of   the  priests,  and  enforced  universal 
toleration."1     One  writer  compares  the  German  rulers 
at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  to  petty  Neros, 
Caligulas,  and  Louis  the  Fifteenths.     French  influence 
prevailed  on  every  hand.      "Generally  speaking,"  says 

1 "  History  of  Germany,"  by  Wolfgang  Menzel,  vol.  3,  p.  77. 


POLITICAL  REVERSES   IN    GERMANY  5 

Menzel,  "  Paris  was  the  sun,  during  all  the  eighteenth 
century,  around  which  the  petty  courts  and  the 
nobility  of  Germany  revolved.  They  looked  to  that 
sun  for  all  life  and  light.  To  have  gone  at  least  once 
to  Paris  was  indispensable  to  any  one  who  pretended 
to  be  fashionable;  but  at  home  also  everything  was 
French,  even  the  language.  They  had  French  maids 
for  their  children,  French  governesses  and  teachers, 
French  fencing  and  dancing  masters.  They  wore  only 
French  dresses,  and  they  sent  to  Paris  and  Lyons 
enormous  sums  extorted  from  the  people  to  pay  for 
all  kinds  of  articles  of  fashion.  They  had  only 
French  cooks  and  French  hair-dressers.  No  court 
could  get  along  without  its  Italian  opera  and  its 
French  ballet,  with  pretty  Italian  or  French  girls,  who 
were  generally  the  mistresses  of  the  princes,  of  the 
courtiers,  and  of  the  noblemen." 

This  social  degradation  was  soon  followed  by  polit 
ical  reverses.  On  July  12,  1806,  sixteen  princes  of 
western  Germany  concluded  under  Napoleon's  direc 
tion  a  treaty,  by  the  terms  of  which  they  seceded 
from  the  German  empire,  and  formed  the  Rhenish 
alliance,  which,  it  was  understood,  should  be  subject 
to  the  emperor  of  France.  On  August  i,  of  the 
same  year,  Napoleon  publicly  refused  to  recognize  the 
empire  of  Germany;  while  five  days  later,  Francis  II. 
abdicated,  and  announced  the  dissolution  of  the  em 
pire.  Before  the  close  of  the  summer,  Prussia  made 


6  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

an  open  declaration  of  war  against  France.  No  ade 
quate  preparations  had  been  made  for  the  struggle, 
and  the  Prussian  army  took  the  field  without  any 
definite  plan  of  action.  The  army  itself  was  in  a 
miserable  condition.  Defeat  for  the  Prussians  was 
inevitable  from  the  beginning,  and  after  his  great 
victory  at  Jena,  Napoleon  entered  Berlin,  October  17, 
1806.  No  resistance  whatever  was  offered,  and  the 
arsenal  with  five  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  the  mili 
tary  stores,  the  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  the 
private  correspondence  of  the  king  and  queen  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  victors.  Napoleon  even  took  down 
the  chariot  of  triumph  from  the  Brandenburg  Gate, 
and  sent  it  and  the  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great  as 
trophies  to  Paris.  The  officials  of  the  city  displayed 
the  most  cowardly  submission,  and  issued  a  proclama 
tion  containing  the  motto,  "Tranquillity  is  the  first  duty 
of  the  citizen."  The  loud  demonstrations  in  favor  of 
Napoleon  astonished  him,  so  that  he  exclaimed :  "  I  know 
not  whether  to  rejoice  or  feel  ashamed."  But  many  of 
the  common  people  looked  in  sadness  and  despair  upon 
Napoleon's  entrance  into  their  city.  I  Lieber,  at  that  time 
a  boy  of  six  years,  lay  in  the  window  watching  the  French 
army  pass  the  house,  and  he  was  so  grieved  at  the  dis 
grace  that  he  wept  aloud.  Shortly  after  this,  Lieber  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  General  Schill,  and  from  this 
brave  hero  he  conceived  the  notion  of  being  a  great 
soldier  himself.  Schill  was  a  man  to  be  admired, — 


GENERAL  SCHILL  AND   LIEBER  7 

handsome,  impetuous,  and  a  favorite  with  the  people. 
Although  wounded  at  Jena,  he  afterward  formed  in 
Pomerania  a  guerrilla  troop  of  young  men.  He  ren 
dered  valuable  service  to  the  country  by  stopping  the 
French  couriers  and  securing  plunder  from  the  enemy. 
When  the  Prussian  fortresses  surrendered,  one  after 
another,  Schill  distinguished  himself  in  the  defence 
of  Colberg.  On  the  evacuation  of  Berlin  by  the 
French  in  1808,  he  led  the  Prussians  into  the  city, 
and  was  received  with  an  enthusiastic  welcome.  The 
people  of  Berlin  were  eager  to  have  Schill's  brave 
soldiers  take  quarters  and  dine  with  them.  Lieber's 
father  invited  several  home,  and  they  talked  of  Col- 
berg  the  whole  day.  The  young  man  was  determined 
to  see  his  favorite  hero,  and  his  experiences  are  re 
lated  in  the  Southern  Literary  Messenger,  for  June, 
1836:- 

"  I  had  not  seen  Schill,  the  object  of  our  wishes, 
but,  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Berlin,  I  began  to  make 
a  heraldic  collection,  and  it  struck  me  that  it  would  be 
a  fine  beginning  could  I  place  at  the  head  the  seal  of 
Schill.  So  I  went  one  day  to  his  quarters,  and  told 
the  sergeant  in  waiting  that  I  wished  to  see  Schill.  I 
peremptorily  refused  to  tell  him  my  business,  and  after 
some  conversation  was  admitted.  I  found  Colonel 
Schill  in  the  garden,  shooting  with  the  pistol  at  a 
target.  He  asked  me  what  I  wanted.  '  Your  seal,  sir/ 
said  I.  '  And  why  my  seal  ? '  was  the  reply.  *  Because,' 


8  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

said  I,  *  I  love  you,  and  wish  to  begin  my  collection 
with  your  coat-of-arms.'  '  Does  your  father  love  me, 
too  ? '  he  asked.  '  Yes,'  replied  I ;  '  all  the  Berlin  people 
do.'  He  seemed  much  moved,  turned  toward  the  other 
officers, — while  he  treated  me  in  the  kindest  manner, — 
and  said  something  which  I  now  forget,  but  the  import 
of  which  may  be  easily  surmised.  He  then  asked  me 
to  take  luncheon  with  them,  and  I  remember  that  he 
helped  me  to  a  glass  of  wine,  saying,  '  Boy,  be  ever  true 
to  your  country ;  here,  let's  touch  glasses  on  its  welfare.' 
I  remember  nothing  of  his  appearance,  except  the  kind 
expression  of  his  large  blue  eyes.  I  was  a  great  man 
among  my  schoolfellows  the  next  day,  and  refused  to 
exchange  one  of  the  seals,  which  Colonel  Schill  had 
given  me,  for  the  arms  of  the  emperor  of  Austria. 
When  the  signet  of  the  king  of  Saxony  was  added,  I 
parted  with  one  of  Schill's,  but  still  I  thought  the 
advantage  of  the  bargain  on  the  other  side." 

By  the  treaty  of  Tilsit  in  1807,  Prussia  ceded  half 
her  territory  and  half  her  population,  while  the  amount 
of  money  extorted  by  the  French  during  the  progress 
of  the  war  exceeded  one  hundred  million  dollars.  Na 
tional  disaster  was  apparently  complete,  but  even  before 
the  close  of  the  war  serious  attempts  at  reform  were 
made.  Stein  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  state,  while 
Scharnhorst  was  commissioned  to  effect  the  reorgani 
zation  of  the  army.  One  stipulation  of  the  treaty  of 
Tilsit  restricted  the  standing  army  of  Prussia  to  forty 


THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   BERLIN  9 

thousand  men,  but  General  Scharnhorst  evaded  this 
regulation  by  making  successive  levies,  each  being  dis 
missed  as  soon  as  thoroughly  trained.  The  material 
equipment  of  the  army  was  greatly  improved,  and  to 
raise  funds  for  this  purpose,  even  the  women  rendered 
valuable  assistance.  They  contributed  their  jewels  and 
wedding  rings,  receiving  iron  rings  in  exchange,  bearing 
the  imperial  signet,  "  We  gave  gold  for  iron."  The  chil 
dren  also  gave  their  aid  to  the  cause  by  putting  their 
small  but  precious  savings  into  the  public  treasury. 

Serious  preparations  were  now  being  made  for  a 
general  uprising  against  Napoleon.  Every  effort  was 
put  forth  to  produce  a  moral  and  intellectual  awaken 
ing  of  the  nation.  Stein  assisted  in  founding  a  secret 
society,  the  Tugendbund,  or  League  of  Virtue.  After 
an  existence  of  a  little  more  than  a  year,  the  Tugendbund 
was  discovered  by  Napoleon's  spies,  and,  in  1810,  the 
king  of  Prussia  was  compelled  to  order  its  dissolution. 
Stein  and  Scharnhorst  were  deprived  of  their  offices, 
and  favorites  of  Napoleon  were  placed  in  power.  The 
rising  spirit  of  Prussia  was' also  indicated  in  establish 
ing  the  University  of  Berlin.  One  of  the  greatest  losses 
which  befell  the  country  by  the  peace  of  Tilsit  was 
that  of  the  University  of  Halle.  Humboldt,  Wolf,  and 
Stein  at  once  set  at  work  to  found  the  University  of 
Berlin,  and  the  institution  was  opened  on  Michaelmas, 
1810,  with  an  attendance  of  458  students.  Although 
there  had  been  a  great  outpouring  of  genius  in  litera- 


10  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

ture,  it  appeared  to  be  wholly  indifferent  to  political 
liberty.  \  "  While  storm  and  thunder  roared  so  appal 
lingly  in  France,"  says  Freytag,  "  and  blew  the  foam  of 
the  approaching  tide  every  year  more  wildly  over  the 
German  land,  the  educated  class  hung  with  eye  and 
heart  on  a  small  principality  in  the  middle  of  Germany, 
where  the  great  poets  thought  and  sang,  as  if  in  the 
profoundest  peace,  driving  away  dark  presentiments 
with  verse  and  prose."  l  Seeley  compares  the  litera 
ture  and  culture  of  the  time  to  some  pernicious  drug, 
which  caused  men  to  forget  their  country  and  their 
duties.  Thus,  the  University  became  a  necessity  in 
order  to  establish  a  centre  of  influence  which  should 
be  felt  in  every  department  of  life  in  Germany.  How 
well  this  work  was  accomplished  is  shown  by  the 
course  of  events  between  1810  and  1815. 

No  individual  did  more  to  arouse  the  national  spirit 
among  the  German  youth  than  Friedrich  Ludwig 
/Jahn,  the  author  of  the  modern  system  of  gymnastics. 
He  was  a  German  patriot,  born  at  Lanz,  Prussia,  in 
1778.  In  1809  he  went  to  Berlin,  where  he  became  a 
teacher  at  the  Kolnisches  gymnasium.  From  patriotic 
motives,  he  established  gymnasia,  where  young  men 
were  fitted  to  endure  the  fatigues  of  war.  His  motto 
was,  "  Frisch,  frei,  frohlich,  und  fromm  " ;  "  strong, 
free,  joyful,  and  pious."  No  French  was  allowed  to 
be  spoken ;  national  songs  were  sung ;  and  every  effort 

1  "  Life  and  Times  of  Stein,"  by  J.  R.  Seeley,  vol.  2,  p.  77. 


DR.   JAHN   AND   LIEBER  Ir 

was  put  forth  to  make  the  gymnasia  nurseries  of  patri 
otism.  Dr.  Jahn  called  these  schools  the  Turnschulen, 
and  the  members  wore  a  short  black  frock  coat,  a  black 
cap,  linen  trousers,  a  bare  neck  with  turned-over  shirt 
collar.  Besides  gymnastics,  he  taught  German  man 
ners,  and  discouraged  local  jealousies  and  provincial 
isms.  When  marching  with  the  young  Turners  out 
of  Berlin,  Dr.  Jahn  would  ask  the  new  ones  as  they 
passed  beneath  the  Brandenburg  Gate,  "  What  are  you 
thinking  of  now  ? "  If  the  boy  did  not  know  what  to 
answer,  Jahn  would  give  him  a  box  on  the  ear,  say 
ing  as  he  did  so,  "  You  should  think  of  this,  how  you 
can  bring  back  the  four  fine  statues  of  horses  that  once 
stood  over  this  gate,  and  were  carried  by  the  French 
to  Paris."  [Lieber  was  brought  under  the  influence  of 
Dr.  Jahn  as  early  as  1811,  and  for  a  period  of  eight 
years  they  were  closely  associated.  They  often  jour 
neyed  together  into  the  neighboring  provinces  for  the 
purpose  of  arousing  an  interest  in  gymnastic  exer 
cises. 

Dr.  Jahn  not  only  taught  the  young  men  gymnas 
tics,  but  he  made  constant  appeals  to  their  national 
spirit.  They  met  in  great  numbers  in  the  Hasenhaide, 
outside  the  southern  gates  of  Berlin,  attracted  thither 
by  the  charm  of  Dr.  Jahn's  eloquence.  His  influence 
at  this  time  is  described  in  the  following  interesting 
manner  by  one  of  his  fellow-countrymen :  — 

"Jahn  inquired  into  the  sources  and   reasons  of  the 


12  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

perverseness  and  unnatural  life  of  the  German  youth. 
He  found  in  the  history  of  the  nation  the  springs  of 
whatever  was  most  noble  and  beautiful  that  a  nation 
could  boast  of,  but  he  also  found  that  these  buds  of 
promise  had  not  been  unfolded  or  cherished  in  public 
life ;  its  system  of  laws  had  been  supplanted  by  a  for 
eign  one ;  its  freedom  had  been  undermined  and 
shaken ;  even  its  language,  morals,  and  customs  had 
received  a  foreign  varnish. 

"  His  attention  was  soon  turned  toward  the  means 
of  removing  the  evils  under  which  his  countrymen  lan 
guished,  and  he  believed  they  were  only  to  be  found 
in  the  education  of  the  youth.  \  Much  had  been  done 
for  education  within  the  last  fifty  years.  Pestalozzi's 
efforts  and  ideas  necessarily  interested  him  above  all 
others ;  but  they  could  not  satisfy  him.  Jahn's  soul 
took  up  these  ideas  from  a  higher  point;  the  whole 
youth,  the  whole  people,  must  at  once  be  taken  hold 
of,  and  brought  to  those  views. 

"  Out  of  this  idea  arose  his  '  Teutsches  Volksthum ' 
('  German  Nationality '),  a  work  written  in  language 
which,  in  richness,  power,  and  depth,  can  be  compared 
to  no  other.  In  this  Jahn  drew,  with  a  firm  and  mas 
terly  hand,  all  the  features  of  the  purest,  noblest  human 
ity,  as  it  had  manifested  itself  in  the  strong  and  tender 
character  of  the  German  people  at  all  times^and  pointed 
out  the  means  for  the  preservation  and  further  progress 
of  their  character.  Through  the  whole  work  there 


THE   GYMNASIA  !3 

breathes  a  holy  love  for  the  people  and  his  fatherland, 
for  virtue  and  honor,  for  truth  and  justice. 

"  Jahn  troubled  himself  but  little  whether  the  people 
understood  this  powerful  call.  Almost  at  the  same 
time  with  the  appearance  of  his  *  Volksthum,'  he  en 
tered  actively  himself  into  the  education  of  the  youth. 
Altogether  independent  and  undisturbed,  he  com 
menced  his  work  in  sport;  he  began  to  practise  gym 
nastics  with  a  few  boys  in  Berlin  in  1808.  The  times, 
which  were  agitated  by  great  events,  conspired  with  his 
efforts ;  men,  at  whose  heart  lay  the  good  of  their  coun 
try,  helped  him  in  every  way.  The  German  people 
was  to  be  waked  from  its  slumber;  it  had  to  learn  to 
feel  its  own  power,  that  it  might  again  be  free." 

The  gymnasium  became  also  a  popular  subject  for 
poetical  inspiration.  The  following  lines  on  "  The 
Gymnast's  Creed,"1  written  by  the  German  patriot, 
Charles  Pollen,  are  filled  with  beautiful  sentiment:  — 

Sound  thunders  of  jubilee,  storm  of  song  ! 

Inspiration  has  kindled  her  lightnings ; 

The  oak  tree  of  manhood,  the  true  German  tower, 

In  Germany  once  more  is  planted  : 

Liberty's  cradle,  thy  coffin,  Oppression  ! 

Is  carved  from  the  wood  of  the  Gymnast's  tree. 

A  Gymnast  is  he  who,  with  weapons  and  armor, 
Storms  over  the  plains  and  through  gulfs, 
On  his  prancing  steed  rushes  into  the  waves, 

1  "  Life  of  Charles  Pollen,"  by  E.  L.  Follen,  p.  4°7- 


14  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

Swings  into  the  air,  leaps  into  the  caves, 

Who  knows  no  liberty  without  equality, 

In  whose  heart  only  God  and  his  country  glow  ! 

Arise,  thou  Gymnast !  thou  German,  come  on  ! 
Up,  ye  noble,  ye  warlike  young  men  ! 
With  crowned  error  truth  yet  is  contending, 
Still  the  devil  is  fighting  with  virtue. 

Sword-blades,  quit  your  rust !  from  your  skins  rush,  new  wine  ! 
From  vapors,  north  wind !     Green  May,  from  the  frost ! 

The  far-reaching  influence  of  the  University  and  the 
gymnasia  became  a  potent  force  in  the  popular  upris 
ing  against  Napoleon  after  his  defeat  in  the  Russian 
campaign.  On  February  3,  1813,  a  call  to  arms  was 
made,  and  in  Berlin  nine  thousand  men  were  enlisted 
in  three  days.  The  schools  closed  their  doors,  the 
students  having  deserted  their  books,  in  order  to 
flock  to  their  country's  standards.  "Clothing,  food, 
and  arms  were  still  wanting,"  writes  Charlton  T. 
Lewis,  "  but  the  people  rivalled  one  another  in  their 
gifts.  Those  who  had  no  money  brought  what  goods 
they  had.  Brides  gave  their  wedding  rings,  and  young 
girls  their  hair.  Women  sent  their  husbands,  sons, 
and  lovers,  and  it  was  a  disgrace  to  remain  behind." 
People  of  all  classes  now  resolved  to  deliver  Germany 
from  the  hands  of  its  oppressors,  and  this  determina 
tion  is  forcibly  expressed  by  Carl  Theodore  Korner, 
in  a  letter  to  his  father :  "  Germany  rises ;  the  Prus 
sian  eagle,  by  the  beating  of  her  mighty  wings,  awakes, 
in  all  true  hearts,  the  great  hope  of  German  freedom. 


THE   REVIVAL   OF   POETRY  !5 

My  poetic  art  sighs  for  my  country  — let  me  not 
prove  myself  her  unworthy  son.  Now  that  I  know 
what  happiness  can  ripen  for  me  in  this  life  — now 
that  the  star  of  fortune  sheds  on  me  its  most  cheering 
influence  —  now  this  is,  by  Heaven!  a  sacred  feeling 
which  animates  me  — this  mighty  conviction  that  no 
sacrifice  can  be  too  great  for  that  greatest  mortal 
blessing,  our  country's  freedom."1 

The  revival  of  poetry  also  did  much  to  kindle  a 
new  zeal  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  A  group  of 
young  poets  sang  of  liberty  and  fatherland.  Among 
this  number  were  Korner,  Arndt,  Ruckert,  and 
Schenkendorf,  all  of  whom,  by  their  patriotism  and 
melodious  verses,  inspired  thousands  of  the  German 
youths  to  take  up  arms  against  the  common  foe.  Sen 
timents  dear  to  the  loyal  heart  in  every  land  are  ex 
pressed  in  the  following  poem  by  Korner,  "The  Last 
Hope":  — 

Why  knit  ye  the  brow,  so  stern  and  so  dark, 
Why  stare  at  the  night,  so  wild  and  so  stark, 

Brave  spirits,  who  never  should  tremble  ? 
The  storm  is  howling,  and  heaving  the  tide, 
The  earth  is  reeling  on  every  side ; 

Our  trouble  we  will  not  dissemble. 

The  fires  of  hell  are  rising  again. 
Much  generous  blood  has  been  lavished  in  vain, 
Still  the  wicked,  the  powerful,  glory. 

1  "  The  Life  of  Carl  Theodore  Korner,"  written  by  his  father,  and  trans 
lated  from  the  German  by  G.  F.  Richardson,  p.  25. 


1 6  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

But  never  despair ;  your  help  is  in  God ; 
Not  in  vain  the  beginning  is  crimsoned  with  blood ; 
Tis  the  day-star  that  rises  so  gory. 

If  once  there  was  need  of  courage  and  might, 
Now  gather  all  courage  and  strength  for  the  fight, 

Lest  the  ship  in  the  haven  yet  perish. 
The  tiger  is  crouching ;  ye  young  men,  awake  ! 
Ye  old  men,  to  arms  !  my  countrymen,  break 

From  the  slumbers  of  death,  which  you  cherish. 

What  avails  it  to  live,  if  liberty  fall? 
What  is  there  so  dear  in  this  Infinite  All, 

As  our  own  mother  country,  that  bore  us? 
We'll  free  our  dear  country,  or  hasten  our  way 
To  the  free,  happy  fathers,  —  yes,  happy  are  they 

Who  have  died  in  the  struggle  before  us. 

Then  howl  on,  ye  storms,  and  roll  on,  thou  tide, 
And  tremble  old  earth,  on  every  side  ! 

Our  free  spirits  bid  you  defiance. 
The  earth  that  we  tread  on  beneath  us  may  sink; 
As  freemen  we'll  stand,  and  never  will  shrink;  — 

With  our  blood  we  will  seal  our  alliance. 

Lieber's  elder  brothers,  Edward  and  Adolf,  were 
among  the  first  to  answer  the  call  to  arms  in  1813. 
The  departure  of  the  young  men  caused  great  excite 
ment  in  the  family,  and  the  parents,  although  weeping, 
felt  proud  that  their  sons  were  to  bear  arms  in  the 

v  r*"" 

defence  of  their  country.  "When  my  brothers  were 
gone,"  wrote  Lieber  to  G.  S.  Hillard,  "  I  rushed  to  my 
room,  knelt  down  before  a  small  press  in  which  I  had 
my  herbarium  (I  was  then  an  ardent  botanist),  and  took 


THE   WATERLOO   CAMPAIGN  1 7 

a  most  solemn  oath,  with  a  voice  as  loud  as  my  sobbing 
allowed  of,  that  I  would  study  French,  enter  the  French 
army,  come  near  to  Napoleon's  person,  and  rid  the 
earth  of  that  son  of  crime  and  sin.  I  tell  you  I  did 
it  fervently,  devoutly,  unreservedly.  I  was  then  thir 
teen  years  old;  I  remember  very  distinctly  that  the 
idea  of  sacrificing  two  armies,  while  the  sacrifice  of  one 
life  might  stop  all  misery,  seemed  to  me  preposterous."  j 
The  campaign  closed  with  the  banishment  of  Napoleon 
to  Elba,  and  the  brothers  returned  home  severely 
wounded.  Lieber,  who  listened  with  envy  to  their 
account  of  the  campaign,  was  soon  called  into  the 
service  of  his  country.  In  his  "  Letters  to  a  Gentleman 
in  Germany,"  he  relates  how,  after  Napoleon  escaped 
from  Elba,  his  father  one  day  hurried  into  the  room, 
where  he  was  studying  Loder's  "Anatomical  Tables," 
exclaiming :  "  Boys,  clean  your  rifles ;  he  is  loose  again, 
—  Napoleon!  —  He  has  returned  from  Elba."2  This 
was  inspiring  news  to  Lieber,  and  after  obtaining  the 
consent  of  his  parents,  he  at  once  made  preparations  to 
enlist.  His  mother,  a  noble  German  woman,  declared 
that  if  she  had  been  the  mother  of  twenty  sons,  she 

1 «  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  298. 

2  "  Letters  to  a  Gentleman  in  Germany,"  by  Francis  Lieber.  Philadelphia : 
Carey,  Lea,  and  Blanchford,  1834,  pp.  99-126.  This  volume  contains  Lieber's 
"  Reminiscences  of  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,"  written  at  Weehawken,  overlook 
ing  New  York  city,  as  he  recalled  the  fact  that  he  had  arrived  in  that  city 
seven  years  before  "  on  the  same  day,  and  had  put  his  foot  on  land  in  the 
same  hour  that,  in  1815,  a  ball  had  prostrated  him." 


1 8  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

would  have  sent  them  all.  One  of  the  brothers  who 
was  wounded  in  the  campaign  of  1813,  returned  to  his 
regiment,  while  Lieber  and  another  brother  joined  the 
Colberg  regiment/  so  named  in  honor  of  the  brave 
defence  of  the  fortress  of  Colberg  in  1806.  The  regi 
ment  had  been  in  more  than  twenty  engagements 
during  the  campaign  of  1813.  The  boys  selected  it 
-  because  it  was  stationed  nearest  to  the  frontier,  and, 
therefore,  surest  to  get  into  the  fight.  Early  in  the 
month  of  May,  they  marched  from  Berlin  to  join  their 
regiment.  On  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  they  passed 
in  review  before  Prince  Blucher,  and  Lieber  longed 
to  be  tried  in  battle.  Girls  followed  their  lovers  to 
the  army,  and  in  his  regiment  there  were  several  who 
served  with  distinction  in  the  ranks.  Lieber  first  saw 
fire  in  the  battle  of  Ligny,  in  which  both  he  and  his 
brother  were  wounded. 

Although  worn  out  by  marching  through  torrents 
of  rain  and  over  deep  roads,  the  young  men  found  it 
a  constant  inspiration  to  be  under  the  command  of 
Prince  Blucher.  He  cheered  the  troops  with  the 
words :  "  My  children,  we  must  advance  ;  I  have  prom 
ised  it ;  do  not  cause  me  to  break  my  word."  Blucher 
was  the  last  general  to  yield  in  the  battle  of  Jena. 
"  At  Pomerania,"  says  Charlton  T.  Lewis,  "  he  was 
seized  with  that  passion  of  pain  at  the  shame  of  Prus 
sia,  which  at  times  took  away  his  reason,  so  that  he 
would  dash  at  the  flies  on  the  wall  with  his  drawn 


THE   WATERLOO   CAMPAIGN  !9 

sword  crying,  'Napoleon'!"1  He  had  a  great  admira 
tion  for  the  Colberg  regiment,  and  as  he  rode  by,  he 
would  exclaim:  "Ah,  my  Colbergers,  wait,  —  wait  a 
moment;  I'll  give  you  presently  something  to  do." 
JLieber's  next  engagement  was  in  the  battle  of  NamurJ  \s 
at  the  beginning  of  which  he  dropped  down  exhausted 
from  the  fatigue  of  the  march.  A  fellow-soldier  had 
some  eggs,  and  gave  Lieber  one,  which  strengthened 
him  so  much  that  he  could  take  his  place  in  the  line. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  received  two  wounds,  one  in 
the  neck  and  the  other  in  the  chest,  which  left  him 
a  cripple  for  life,  j  In  his  "  Letters  to  a  Gentleman  in 
Germany,"  he  relates  an  account  of  his  sufferings,  and 
a  dream  that  he  had  as  follows :  "  I  now  fell  into  a 
deep  swoon.  The  ideas  of  approaching  death,  the 
burning  thirst  and  the  fever  created  by  my  wounds, 
together  with  the  desire  which  had  occupied  our  minds 
so  often  during  the  last  days  of  seeing  once  more  good 
quarters,  produced  a  singular  dream,  which  was  as 
lively  and  as  like  reality  as  it  was  strange.  I  dreamed 
that  I  had  died  and  arrived  before  the  gates  of 
Heaven,  where  I  presented  my  billet.  Saint  Peter 

1  "A  History  of  Germany,"  by  Charlton  T.  Lewis,  p.  592. 

The  histories  trace  BlUcher's  descent  from  a  noble  race,  which  at  a  very 
early  period  enjoyed  high  repute  in  Mecklenburg  and  Pomerania.  In  1271, 
Ulric  von  Bliicher  was  bishop  of  Ratzeburg.  A  legend  relates  that,  during  a 
time  of  dearth,  an  empty  barn  was,  on  his  petitioning  heaven,  instantly  filled 
with  corn.  In  1356,  Wipertus  von  Bliicher  also  became  bishop  of  Ratze 
burg,  and  on  the  pope's  refusal  to  confirm  him  in  his  diocese  on  account  of 
his  youth,  his  hair  turned  gray  in  one  night. 


20  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

looked  at  me,  and  I  was  admitted  into  a  wide  saloon 
where  an  immense  table  was  spread  out,  covered  with 
the  choicest  fruits  and  with  crystal  vessels  filled 
with  the  most  cooling  beverages.  I  was  transported 
with  joy,  yet  I  asked,  '  Do  people  here  eat  and  drink  ?  * 
Saint  Peter  answered,  that  those  who  wished  to  enjoy 
those  refreshments,  as  was  probably  my  case,  were  at 
liberty  to  do  so;  but  that  those  who  were  unwilling 
to  partake  of  them  felt  no  evil  effects  in  consequence; 
life  was  possible  there  without  food.  I  went  to  one 
of  the  crystal  bowls,  and  drank  in  deep  draughts  the 
refreshing  liquid.  I  awoke,  and  found  a  soldier  bend 
ing  over  me  and  giving  me  out  of  his  canteen  what 
I  long  believed  to  be  wine,  so  deliciously  and  vivify- 
ingly  did  it  course  through  every  vein ;  but  at  a  later 
period  I  happened  to  meet  the  same  soldier,  and 
learned  that  this  reviving  liquid  was  simply  water." 
Lieber  was  carried  away  to  have  his  wounds  dressed 
in  the  hospital  at  Liege.1  He  was  finally  received  in 
a  respectable  Belgian  family,  the  Lesoines,  who  took 
the  most  touching  care  of  him.  Returning  to  the 
regiment  before  he  had  fully  recovered  his  strength, 
he  fell  sick  with  a  severe  attack  of  typhus  fever,  and 
was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  From 
here  he  was  transferred  to  the  hospital  at  Cologne, 

1  "  Rufus  Choate  used  to  say  that  I  was  picked  up  for  the  exclusive  pur 
pose  of  being  shipped  to  America,  there  to  write  my  <  Political  Ethics.1 "  — 
LIEBER  IN  A  LETTER  TO  GENERAL  GARFIELD,  December  10,  1870. 


THE   WATERLOO   CAMPAIGN  2I 

where,  some  time  after  peace  had  been  declared,  he 
was  fully  restored  to  health.  His  arrival  home  was  a 
surprise  to  the  family,  who  had  given  him  up  for  dead. 
His  personal  effects  consisted  only  of  a  dog,  that  had 
gone  through  the  Waterloo  campaign,  where  it  lost  the 
end  of  its  tail  by  a  ball.  But  he  had  grown  rich  in 
experience,  and  he  became  an  enthusiastic  advocate 
of  Jiberty  and  German  unity. 

jAt  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  the  students 
who  had  fought  in  the  volunteer  service  returned  to  the 
gymnasia  and  the  universities,  where  they  took  up  their 
studies  with  a  new  zeal.  They  had  received  a  fresh 
consecration  on  the  battlefield,  and  were  prepared  to 
resist  tyranny  in  every  form.  Lieber  entered  the  Gray 
Cloister  gymnasium  in  Berlin,  and  came  again  under 
the  influence  of  Dr.  Jahn.  ;  The  Turners  increased 
very  rapidly  in  numbers  after  the  downfall  of  Napoleon, 
and  Dr.  Jahn,  their  leader,  began  to  arouse  the  sus 
picions  of  the  government  by  his  zeal  for  freedom. 

[The  doctrines  of  the  French  Revolution  gave  a 
strong  impulse  to  free  political  thought  in  Germany. 
A  new  constitution,  derived  from  the  freshness  of 
nature,  was  advocated.  While  this  was,  in  some  re 
spects,  a  return  to  the  contrat  social,  it  implied,  how 
ever,  a  modification  according  to  German  forms,  j  Three 
weeks  before  the  battle  of  Waterloo  a  royal  decree 
was  published  in  Berlin,  which  announced  that  a  con 
stitution  should  be  formed,  and  that  a  national  assembly 


22  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

should  meet  as  the  representative  body  of  the  people. 
After  the  battle  of  Waterloo  this  promise  was  not  only 
forgotten,  but  a  vigorous  policy  of  reaction  began.  The 
ancient  empire  was  replaced  on  June  8,  1815,  by  a 
German  confederation  of  thirty-nine  states,  i  The  eleven 
states  of  first  rank  alone  held  a  full  vote,  the  secondary 
states  merely  holding  a  half  or  a  fourth  part  of  a 
vote ;  as,  for  instance,  all  the  Saxon  duchies  collectively 
had  one  vote.  In  constitutional  questions  relating  to 
the  confederation  the  six  states  of  highest  rank  were 
to  have  each  four  votes ;  the  next  five  states  three  votes ; 
Brunswick,  Schwerin,  and  Nassau  each  two  votes,  and 
all  the  remaining  states  each  one  vote.  Austria  was 
to  hold  the  permanent  presidency.  -This  constitutional 
system  meant  that  Germany  had  simply  changed  rulers. 
While  the  despotism  of  Napoleon  had  lasted  fourteen 
years,  that  of  Metternich  was  to  be  endured  for  thirty- 
three  years.  "  The  despotism  of  Napoleon,"  writes 
Colonel  G.  B.  Malleson,  "  was  the  despotism  of  the 
conqueror  who  had  swept  away  the  old  system,  and 
who  terrorized  over  its  former  supporters.  The 
despotism  of  Metternich,  not  less  actual,  used  as  its 
willing  instruments  those  very  supporters  upon  whose 
necks  Napoleon  had  placed  his  heel.  His  system  was 
/the  more  dangerous  to  human  freedom  because  it  was 
disguised."1  To  the  German  Confederation  Metternich 
added  the  Holy  Alliance  as  a  means  of  suppressing  all 

1 "  Life  of  Prince  Metternich,"  by  Colonel  G.  B.  Malleson,  p.  2. 


THE  POLICY   OF   METTERNICH  23 

demands  for  popular  government.  The  machinery  of 
oppression  was  now  apparently  complete,  and  the  most 
determined  efforts  were  made  to  crush  the  spirit  of 
liberty V~]  Gorres,  in  the  Rhenish  Mercury,  made  loud 
complaints  against  the  government  for  entirely  ignoring 
the  liberal  party.1  In  July,  1815,  the  Mercury  was 
placed  under  the  care  of  a  censor,  and  a  year  later 
it  was  suppressed,  while  Gorres  was  threatened  with 
the  house  of  correction.  Shortly  after  the  peace  of 
Paris  in  1815,  Privy-Councillor  Schmalz  endeavored 
to  create  a  prejudice  against  the  patriotic  movement 
by  sending  to  the  king  a  memorial  entitled :  "  What 
have  we  to  fear  or  to  hope  from  Secret  Political  Associ 
ations  in  Germany?"  The  author  of  this  pamphlet 
made  a  base  effort  to  spread  a  reactionary  sentiment. 
He  claimed  that  these  societies  were  similar  to  the 
Tugendbund,  which  was  dissolved  in  1810;  and  that 
they  threatened  the  tranquillity  of  the  state,  and  even 
its  very  existence,  by  the  most  alarming  intrigues. 
Schmalz  evidently  forgot  that,  at  one  time,  the  fore- 

1  Joseph  Johann  Gbrres,  a  distinguished  writer  on  religious,  political,  and 
scientific  subjects,  was  born  at  Coblentz,  January  25,  1776.  His  sympathies 
were,  from  the  first,  with  the  revolution.  His  first  political  tract  was  entitled 
"  Universal  Peace,  an  Ideal."  He  then  commenced  a  republican  journal,  Das 
Rot  he  Blatt.  In  1806  he  removed  to  Heidelberg,  where  he  lectured  in  the 
University.  After  the  battle  of  Leipsic  he  sought  to  arouse  the  people 
through  the  Rhenish  Mercury.  After  the  suppression  of  this  paper  Gorres 
became  a  political  pamphleteer.  His  pamphlet,  "Germany  and  the  Revolu 
tion,"  was  suppressed.  He  was  ordered  arrested,  but  escaped  to  Switzerland. 
He  died  July  29,  1848. 


24  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

most  men  of  Prussia  had  belonged  to  the  Tugendbund, 
and  that  this  body  had  been  a  power  in  the  war  against 
Napoleon. 

The  desire  among  the  students  for  German  unity  was 
clearly  shown  by  the  organization  of  the  Burschenschaft 
(students'  league)  in  the  universities  in  1816.  In  ancient 
times,  Germany  was  considered  an  aggregate  of  four 
lands,  or  leading  provinces ;  namely,  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Swabia,  and  Franconia.  The  students  in  the  universi 
ties  were  divided  into  associations  called  Landsmann- 
schaften  (countrymanships).  These  associations  finally 
degenerated;  false  notions  of  honor  existed;  duels 
were  frequent,  and  the  few  tyrannized  over  the  many. 
At  the  time  of  the  wars  of  liberation,  these  sectional 
unions  were  so  corrupt,  that  the  Burschenschaft,  or 
union  of  all  the  students,  was  formed.  A  court  of 
honor,  known  as  the  Ehrenspiegel,  was  established  in 
the  Burschenschaft,  empowered  to  settle  all  differences 
according  to  the  rules  of  morality  and  justice.  A  good 
idea  of  the  power  of  the  Burschenschaft  may  be  formed 
from  the  account  of  the  general  celebration  which  took 
place  October  18,  at  the  Wartburg.  The  object  was  to 
celebrate  at  the  same  time  the  battle  of  Leipsic  and  the 
Reformation.  More  than  five  hundred  young  men  from 
the  different  universities  were  present,  and  Professors 
Fries,  Kieser,  and  Oken,  of  Jena,  also  took  an  active  part 
in  the  exercises.  The  black,  red,  and  yellow  tricolor, 
the  ancient  colors  of  the  empire,  was  raised  for  the  first 


THE  WARTBURG  CELEBRATION         25 

time  on  this  occasion.     The  glories  of   the  past  were 
recalled,  and  plans  for  future  action  were  discussed. 

The  exercises  connected  with  the  celebration  were 
brought  to  a  close  in  the  evening  by  consigning  to  the 
flames  a  copy  of  Schmalz's  famous  pamphlet,  the  police 
codex  of  Kamptz,  and  Kotzebue's  German  History. 
The  government  was  now  thoroughly  alarmed,  and 
preparations  were  made  to  take  severe  measures  against 
the  press  and  the  universities.  An  article  written  by 
Alexander  Stourdza,  of  Moldavia,  on  the  situation  in 
Germany,  was  circulated  at  the  Congress  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  in  the  autumn  of  1818.  This  pamphlet  caused 
the  greatest  excitement,  both  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
written  at  the  command  of  the  Czar  of  Russia,  and  be 
cause  it  made  a  direct  attack  on  the  press  and  the 
universities.  While  Stourdza's  article  reviewed  various 
social  evils  of  that  day,  he  was  particularly  bitter  in 
his  denunciation  of  the  German  universities.1  The 
young  men  at  Jena  arose  in  a  spirit  of  indignation, 
and  two  of  them  challenged  Stourdza  to  fight  a  duel. 
He  fled  from  Weimar,  acknowledging  that  he  had 
written  the  article  at  the  command  of  Alexander  of 
Russia. 

The  Czar  of  Russia  now  determined  to  carry  still 
further  his  policy  of  interference  in  German  affairs. 
In  1817,  he  sent  the  Russian  state-councillor,  Augustus 
von  Kotzebue  to  Weimar,  to  act  as  a  spy,  and  gather 

1 "  Life  and  Times  of  Stein,"  by  J.  R.  Seeley,  vol.  2,  p.  442. 


26  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

information  concerning  the  liberal  party.  Kotzebue, 
although  a  native  of  Weimar  and  educated  at  Jena, 
spent  many  years  of  his  life  in  the  service  of  Russia. 
He  was  a  dramatist  of  considerable  ability,  but  his 
moral  principles  were  lax,  and  in  his  writings  he 
sought  to  encourage  the  license  of  the  day.  In  1813, 
he  returned  to  Weimar,  but  soon  made  his  permanent 
residence  at  Mannheim.  He  continued  to  receive  a 
large  salary  from  Russia,  and  in  return  he  acted  the 
despicable  part  of  a  spy  upon  his  fatherland.  In  his 
paper,  the  Literary  Weekly,  he  turned  to  ridicule  the 
principles  of  the  liberal  party,  "  and  exercised  his 
powers  of  wit  upon  the  individual  eccentricities  of 
the  students  affecting  the  old  German  costume  of 
precocious  boys  and  doting  professors."1  He  also 
sent  secret  despatches  to  St.  Petersburg,  filled  with 
suspicions  against  the  universities;  but  when  he 
openly  approved  Stourdza's  memorial,  the  abhorrence 
of  his  character  aroused  the  German  youth  to  a  defi 
nite  plan  of  action.  The  Burschenschaft  at  Jena  was 
often  called  the  "  Uncompromising,"  because  its  mem 
bers  had  sworn  to  carry  out  uncompromisingly  the 
principles  of  truth  and  justice.  Karl  Ludwig  Sand, 
of  Wunsiedel,  was  a  member  of  this  body,  and  he 
was  pursuing  his  studies  at  Jena,  when  the  feeling 
against  Kotzebue  reached  its  height.  Sand  was  a 
young  man  of  noble  character,  and  he  possessed  great 

1  «  History  of  Germany,1'  by  Wolfgang  Menzel,  vol.  3,  p.  374. 


THE   MURDER  OF   KOTZEBUE  27 

religious  zeal.  In  brooding  over  the  wrongs  of  his 
country,  he  thought  himself  called  upon  by  Provi 
dence  to  put  an  end  to  Kotzebue's  life.  He  recalled 
how  Frederic  Staps,  after  Austria's  downfall,  had 
made  an  attempt  upon  Napoleon.  Sand  himself,  like 
young  Lieber,  had  once  vowed  to  take  Napoleon's  life, 
and  he  now  regarded  Kotzebue  as  a  proper  victim  of 
revenge.  On  March  the  23d,  1819,  he  went  to 
Mannheim  to  carry  out  his  resolution.  He  reached 
Kotzebue's  house  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  after  an 
exchange  of  greetings,  thrust  a  dagger  into  his  heart, 
crying,  "Take  that,  thou  traitor  to  the  fatherland!" 
He  then  stabbed  himself  and  rushed  out  of  the 
house,  exclaiming,  "  Long  live  my  German  father 
land!"  Kneeling  down  in  the  street,  he  stabbed  him 
self  a  second  time,  uttering  the  prayer,  "  I  thank  thee, 
God,  for  this  victory  !  "  His  wounds  were  tended  with 
the  greatest  care,  and  he  so  far  recovered  as  to  suffer 
the  penalty  for  murder.  On  May  20,  1820,  he  was 
beheaded  at  Mannheim  in  the  presence  of  many  uni 
versity  students,  who  dipped  their  handkerchiefs  in 

his  blood. 

/ 

During  these  years  of  excitement,  i  Lieber  also  suf 
fered  for  the  cause  of  liberty.  From  his  earliest  years, 
his  father's  house  had  been  a  favorite  place  for  the 
meetings  of  the  patriots.  There,  as  a  mere  boy,  he 
and  his  companions  had  formed  a  secret  association, 
in  which  every  member  had  to  cut  his  ringer  and  sign 


28  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

his  name  with  his  own  blood.1  The  followers  of  Jahn 
continued  to  meet  at  Lieber's  house,  and  a  number  of 
them  published  a  book  of  songs  entitled,  "  Lieder  flir 
Jung  und  Alt."  This  work  aroused  the  suspicions  of 
the  government,  and  after  the  murder  of  Kotzebue, 
the  arrests  of  teachers  and  students  became  frequent 
occurrences.  The  Carlsbad  decrees  of  October  18, 
1819,  placed  a  censorship  over  the  press,  appointed  a 
commission  at  Mayence  for  the  investigation  of  polit 
ical  intrigues,  abolished  the  Burschenschaft  and  the 
gymnasia,  and  placed  the  universities  under  the  in 
spection  of  government  deputies.  Dr.  Jahn  was 
arrested  in  July,  1819,  on  the  charge  that  his  schools 
were  liberal  and  political  clubs.  Taken  from  his 
dying  child,  he  was  imprisoned  successively  in  Span- 
dau,  Kustrin,  and  Colberg.  He  was  liberated  after 
a  confinement  of  five  years ;  he  then  went  to  Freiburg, 
where  he  was  a  professor  for  many  years.  In  1848, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  national  assembly  at  Frank 
fort.  On  August  2,  1872,  a  monument  to  him  was 
unveiled  on  the  Hasenhaide,  the  old  Turner  grounds, 
near  Berlin.  Lieber's  arrest  occurred  a  few  days  after 
that  of  Dr.  Jahn,  and  he  was  charged  with  being  an 
enemy  of  the  state.  His  papers  were  all  seized,  and 
several  foolish  political  essays  were  found,  but  nothing 
to  convict  him  of  criminal  acts.  After  four  months' 
imprisonment  he  was  released,  and  the  officials  informed 

1  "Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  3. 


IMPRISONMENT  29 

him  that,  although  he  had  not  been  found  guilty  of 
any  punishable  acts,  he  could  not  be  matriculated  in 
any  Prussian  university,  and  could  never  receive  an 
appointment  under  the  government.  He  was  also 
prohibited  from  entering  the  other  German  univer 
sities,  with  the  exception  of  Jena,  where  he  remained 
for  some  time,  receiving  the  degree  of  doctor  of  phi 
losophy  in  1820.  He  was  immediately  ordered  away 
from  Jena  by  the  Minister  of  Instruction,  and  the 
next  year  was  spent  in  the  study  of  surveying  at 
Halle  and  Dresden.  Referring  to  this  period  of  his 
life,  he  wrote  in  1868;  "  I  have  this  very  moment  read 
in  the  German  papers  that  Bismarck  said  in  the 
Chamber  the  very  thing  for  which  I  was  hunted  down 
in  1820  and  1821." 

[Lieber's  residence  in  Dresden  was  very  brief  on 
account  of  the  uprising  of  the  Greeks  against  the 
Turkish  yoke  in  1821.  ;  The  revolt  against  despotism 
became  general  throughout  Europe.  "  From  the 
mouth  of  the  Tagus,"  writes  Professor  Wilhelm 
Muller,  "to  the  Neva  and  the  islands  of  the  Grecian 
Archipelago  all  was  effervescence  and  fermentation, 
and  hot  streams  of  national  exasperation  were  poured 
upon  those  feudal  dynasties  which  'had  forgotten 
nothing  and  learned  nothing.'"  The  Germans,  sup 
pressed  at  home,  entered  into  the  cause  of  the  Greeks 
with  the  warmest  enthusiasm.  Unions  were  formed 
in  Germany,  and  many  young  men,  including  profes- 


30  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

sors,  students,  and   tradesmen,  gathered  at    Marseilles, 

there  to   embark  for   Greece.     jLieber   determined   to 
v^  I 

join  a  party  of  Germans  who  were  about  to  offer 
their  services  to  the  Greeks.  4  His  difficulties  in  leav 
ing  Germany  are  related  as  follows,  by  Judge  Thayer: 
"It  was  impossible  for  him  to  obtain  a  passport  for 
any  length  of  time,  and  particularly  for  a  journey  to 
France,  yet  he  had  to  make  his  way  to  Marseilles, 
where  he  intended  to  embark  for  Greece.  He  took, 
therefore,  a  passport  for  a  journey  to  Nuremberg,  and 
for  the  short  period  of  a  fortnight  only.  Once  in  pos 
session  of  it,  he  emptied  an  inkstand  over  the  words 
which  declared  it  to  be  limited  to  so  short  a  space  of 
time.  He  then  had  it  signed  in  every  small  place  on 
his  route  to  Nuremberg,  so  that,  to  use  his  own 
words,  'it  finally  looked  formidable  enough/  Arrived 
in  Nuremberg,  he  accounted  for  the  defacing  inkblot 
by  the  awkwardness  of  a  police  officer,  and  had  the 
paper  signed  for  Munich.  There  he  chose  a  time 
when  the  chief  officer  of  the  legation  had  gone  to 
dinner,  and  had  it  further  signed  for  Switzerland,  pre 
tending  to  be  in  a  great  hurry.  He  travelled  on  foot 
through  Switzerland,  and  thence  to  Marseilles.  In 
this  manner  and  by  such  shifts  did  this  great  histori 
cal  scholar,  this  profound  writer  upon  the  laws  of 
nations,  this  great  philosopher  who  explained  and 
illustrated  the  nature  of  civil  government  and  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  laws,  whose  works  have  been 


FLIGHT  TO   GREECE  3I 

of  incalculable   benefit   to   liberty  and   have   added  so 
many  new  ideas  to  political   science,  escape   from   his 
native  land."1    Reaching  Marseilles  in  December,  1821, 
he  joined  a  motley  crowd   of   Germans,  Danes,  Poles, 
French,  and  Italians.     The  German  societies  furnished 
a  small   vessel,  and   on    January  10,   1822,  they  sailed 
from    Marseilles,  armed   with   daggers,   pistols,  swords, 
and  guns.     The  vessel  sailed  very  fast,  and   on    Janu 
ary  20,  the   hills   of   the    Peloponnesus   were   in  view. 
The    next    day  the    port    of    Navarino    was    reached, 
where   thev  landed  amidst   singing   and   the   firing   of 
muskets.    [Lieber's    experiences    in    Greece    were    the 
most  bitter   of   his    life. ,  _.  "  All    came,"    writes    Colonel 
Napier,  "expecting  to  find  the  Peloponnesus  filled  with 
Plutarch's  men,  and  all  returned  thinking  the   inhabi 
tants  of  Newgate  more   moral."      Lieber's   party  were 
refused  food  and  shelter,  and  they  were  compelled   to 
sell   their   clothing  and  watches   to   obtain   money  for 
their  journey.      On   the   way  to    Tripolis   they  passed 
by  a  robbers'    den,  where   sixty  armed   peasants    took 
their   horses.      After  journeying   through  the  country 
and  visiting   several    Greek   towns,  Lieber   became   so 
disgusted   with    the    miserable   condition   of    the    peo 
ple  that  he  reached  the  following  conclusions :  i,  that 
the    cowardice    and    incapacity   of    the    Greeks    made 
them  unfit  to  defend  or  free  their  country;  2,  that  no 
individual,  not  even  an  experienced  commander,  could 

la  Lieber's  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  i,  p.  18. 


32  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

assist  them;  3,  that  a  small  army,  properly  equipped, 
might  scour  the  whole  country  and  rescue  it;  4,  that 
by  this  means  the  country  might  be  preserved  to 
Christianity. 


II 


LIFE    IN     ROME  —  RETURN    TO    PRUSSIA  —  DEPARTURE    FOR 

ENGLAND 

J  ""DISAPPOINTED  with  his  experiences  in  Greece, 
^J  and  unable  to  procure  the  means  for  subsistence, 
Lieber  resolved,  in  March,  1822,  to  return  to  his 
native  country.  At  Missolonghi,  rendered  immortal 
by  the  name  of  Lord  Byron,  he  took  passage  in  a 
small  vessel  bound  for  Ancona,  on  the  shores  of  the 
Adriatic  in  Italy.  After  a  stormy  voyage,  he  entered 
the  port  of  Ancona  on  Easter  eve,  with  but  a  scudo 
and  a  half  in  his  pocket.  As  a  death  had  occurred 
on  the  ship  soon  after  entering  the  port,  he  was  held 
in  quarantine  for  forty  days.  Having  no  means  to 
defray  the  quarantine  expenses,  .and  fearing  that  he 
should  be  obliged  to  pay  the  captain  by  serving  on 
board  the  vessel,  he  at  once  wrote  for  assistance 
to  an  old  fellow-student  who  had  gone  to  Rome  to 
study  art.  Lieber's  friend  received  the  letter,  and  at 
once  forwarded  all  the  ready  money  that  he  pos 
sessed.  On  being  released  from  quarantine,  a  fresh 
difficulty  arose  on  account  of  the  gap  in  his  passport 
On  his  journey  from  Dresden  to  Marseilles,  where  he 

D  33 


34  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

embarked  for  Greece,  he  had  been  given  a  provisional 
passport  on  the  French  frontier,  while  his  regular 
papers  were  forwarded  to  Paris.  His  difficulties  were 
increased  by  an  order  from  Rome  charging  the  offi 
cials  not  to  endorse  the  passport  of  any  traveller  from 
Greece,  except  for  a  direct  journey  home.  The  police- 
officer  at  Ancona,  therefore,  refused  to  sign  Lieber's 
papers,  and  he  exclaimed  to  the  officer,  "Would  you 
prevent  me  from  seeing  Rome  ?  "  The  officer  replied : 
"  You  see,  carissimo  mio,  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  You 
are  a  Prussian,  and  I  must  direct  your  passport  home 
to  Germany.  I  will  direct  it  to  Florence;  your  min 
ister  there  may  direct  it  back  to  Rome.  Or  I  will 
direct  it  to  any  place  in  Tuscany  which  you  may 
choose ;  for  through  Tuscany  you  must  travel  in 
order  to  reach  Germany."  Lieber  now  despaired 
more  than  ever  of  seeing  the  Eternal  City,  but  glanc 
ing  at  a  map  of  Italy,  he  found  that  the  southwest 
ern  border  of  Tuscany  approached  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  Rome.  Pretending  that  he  had  a  friend  at 
Orbitello,  a  city  of  Tuscany,  he  induced  the  officer  to 
direct  the  passport  to  that  city.  A  coach  was  hired, 
and  he  made  a  hurried  departure  from  Ancona.  He 
was  compelled  to  inform  the  coachman  that  his  real 
destination  was  Rome,  and  not  Orbitello ;  and  by 
paying  a  small  sum,  all  objections  were  overcome. 
When  near  Rome,  Lieber  left  the  coach;  passed  the 
sentinels  in  safety,  and  succeeded  in  finding  the 


^          LIF 


FE   IN   ROME  35 

friend  who  had  come  to  his  assistance  with  money, 
while  at  Ancona.  But  he  could  not  long  enjoy  the 
wonders  of  Rome  without  permission  from  the  authorities ; 
and  this  was  to  be  obtained  only  by  means  of  a  certifi 
cate  from  the  Prussian  minister.  He  now  determined 
to  call  on  the  minister,  Niebuhr,  and  make  a  frank 
statement  of  his  misfortunes  and  difficult  position. 
He  thought  that  "  a  scholar  who  had  written  the  his 
tory  of  Rome  could  not  be  so  cruel  as  to  drive  me 
from  Rome  without  allowing  me  time  to  see  and 
study  it."  Niebuhr  resided  in  a  magnificent  palace 
on  the  remains  of  the  theatre  that  Augustus  had  built 
and  dedicated  to  Marcellus.  Lieber's  heart  almost 
failed  him  as  he  approached  this  historic  site.  He 
had  never  met  Niebuhr,  and  now  he  was  to  be 
brought  into  his  presence  in  a  most  forlorn  condition. 
His  appearance  was  anything  but  prepossessing,  as  he 
describes  it  in  his  "  Reminiscences  " :  "  My  dress  con 
sisted,  as  yet,  of  nothing  better  than  a  pair  of  unblacked 
shoes,  such  as  are  not  unfrequently  worn  in  the  Levant ; 
a  pair  of  socks  of  coarse  Greek  wool;  the  brownish 
pantaloons  frequently  worn  by  sea-captains  in  the 
Mediterranean;  and  a  blue  frock-coat,  through  which 
two  balls  had  passed  — a  fate  to  which  the  blue  cloth 
cap  had  likewise  been  exposed.  The  socks  were 
exceedingly  short,  hardly  covering  my  ankles,  and  so 
indeed  were  the  pantaloons;  so  that,  when  I  was  in 
a  sitting  position,  they  refused  me  the  chanty  of  meet- 


36  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

ing,  with  an  obstinacy  which  reminded  me  of  the 
irreconcilable  temper  of  the  two  brothers  in  Schiller's 
1  Bride  of  Messina.'  " 

Lieber  was  most  kindly  received  by  the  minister, 
and  through  him  the  necessary  permission  was  obtained 
to  reside  in  Rome.  Niebuhr  also  loaned  him  a  sum  of 
money,  from  a  fund,  placed  at  his  disposal  by  Prince 
Henry,  for  the  relief  of  their  countrymen  who  might 
return  from  Greece.  He  was  invited  to  dine  with 
Niebuhr  and  his  family,  and  he  felt  greatly  embar 
rassed,  as  his  naked  extremities  were  exposed  to  the 
remarks  of  the  children.  Niebuhr  took  a  great  interest 
in  the  young  man,  and  they  spent  hours  in  conversa 
tion^  The  library  was  placed  at  Lieber's  disposal,  and 
he  often  returned  burdened  with  books,  much  to  the 

amusement  of  his  benefactor.     He  soon  became  a  daily 
\»r  *— - 

visitor  to  the  palace,  and  one  day  Niebuhr  invited 
him  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the  family,  and  assist 
in  the  education  of  his  son,  Marcus.  This  invitation 
was  accepted,  and  it  proved  to  be  the  most  important 
step  in  Lieber's  career.  He  often  remarked  that  he 
owed  to  Niebuhr  a  much  more  correct  view  of  antiquity, 
and  through  him  he  learned  that  "the  same  springs  of 
action  were  applicable  in  modern  and  in  ancient  time$,'!J 
His  new  position  seemed  to  be  profitable  both  to 
himself  and  to  Niebuhr,  as  the  latter  describes  with 
charming  interest  in  his  "  Memoirs  "  :  "A  young  man  has 
lately  arrived,  a  Mr.  Lieber,  of  Berlin,  who  had  gone 


RELATIONS  WITH   NIEBUHR 


37 


to  Greece  as  a  volunteer,  and  has  returned,  partly  that 
he  might  not  die  of  starvation,  partly  because  he  found 
the  boundless  corruption  of  the  Moreans,  and,  withal, 
their  cowardice,  insufferable.  His  veracity  is  unquestion 
able,  and  the  horror  which  his  narratives  inspire  is  not 
to  be  described.  All  this  has  plunged  him  into  deep 
melancholy,  for  he  has  a  very  noble  heart.  He  has 
deeply  moved  and  interested  us,  and  we  are  trying  to 
cheer  his  spirits  by  friendly  treatment,  and  to  banish 
from  his  thoughts  the  infernal  scenes  which  he  has 
witnessed.  [He  is  one  of  the  youths  of  the  noble  period 
of  1813  (when  he  served  in  the  army  and  was  wounded) 
who  lost  themselves  in  visions,  the  elements  of  which 
they  drew  from  their  own  hearts;  and  this  terrible 
contrast  between  his  experiences  and  all  that  he  had 
imagined  —  all  that  impelled  him  into  distant  lands - 
has  broken  his  heart]  He  is  now  here  in  a  state  of 
destitution.  I  shall  at  all  events  give  him  aid;  but  I 
mean  to  propose  to  him,  in  the  first  instance,  to  come 
to  us  and  assist  us  in  instructing  Marcus,  and  in  my 
literary  work." 

In  after  years,  Lieber  often  said  that  his  life  had 
been  made  up  of  many  geological  layers.  Of  these,  no 
doubt,  his  residence  in  Rome  was  one  of  the  most 
important,  fin  Niebuhr's  house,  he  wrote  his  first 
book,  the  "Journal  of  my  Residence  in  Greece;!, and 
he  frequently  remarked,  as  he  recalled  that  time,  "  I 
feel  as  if  I  were  writing  of  some  creature  in  the  plio- 


38  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

cene  period."1  To  the  student,  there  is  no  privilege 
equal  to  that  of  daily  companionship  with  a  rarely 
gifted  man.  Compared  with  this,  schools  and  courses 
of  study  sink  into  utter  insignificance.  To  inspire 
young  men  with  high  ideals  and  with  correct  views 
of  the  world,  should  be  the  great  ambition  of  every 
teacher;  but  few,  indeed,  are  able  to  rise  above  the 
duties  of  routine  instruction.  During  his  residence  in 
Rome,  Lieber  enjoyed  advantages  such  as  the  schools 
and  universities  cannot  offer.  He  had  at  his  disposal 
books  and  the  treasures  of  art ;  but,  above  all,  he  had 
with  him  the  minister  and  great  historian,  who  showed 
at  all  times  the  most  fatherly  interest.  While  every 
scholar  has  longed  to  see  Rome,  but  few  have  been 
able  to  dwell  there  with  a  Minister  of  State,  whose 
labors  had  already  exercised  a  powerful  influence  upon 
human  science.  Niebuhr  was  born  in  Copenhagen,  in 
1766,  and  he  was  educated  in  the  University  of  Kiel. 
According  to  Lieber's  account  of  the  historian,  he  was 
very  thin  and  small  in  stature.  His  voice  was  high- 
pitched.  His  sight  was  very  poor,  and  spectacles 
were  so  indispensable  to  him,  that  once  having  left 
his  "  Dollands,"  Lieber  was  obliged  to  make  a  day's 
journey  to  get  them.  He  lived  frugally  and  drank 

1  "  This  work  was  translated  into  Dutch,  with  the  tempting  title  of  the 
'  German  Anacharsis,'  with  a  fancy  portrait  of  the  author.  The  Dutch  pub 
lisher  sent  a  box  of  very  old  Hock  to  the  author  as  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  profit  he  had  made  out  of  this  involuntary  Anacharsis."  —  SOUTHERN 
LITERARY  MESSENGER,  vol.  22,  p.  366. 


RELATIONS  WITH   NIEBUHR 


39 


only  wine  and  water.  He  shaved  himself,  walking  up 
and  down  the  room,  talking  the  while  when  there  was 
no  one  present.  He  was  an  habitual  snuff-taker,  but 
smoking  was  very  offensive  to  him.  He  could  study 
and  write  amidst  any  noise  and  confusion.  Rolling  on 
the  floor  with  his  children  was  a  frequent  indulgence, 
and  in  all  things  his  simplicity  was  great.  His  capacity 
for  the  languages  was  remarkable.  In  1807,  his  father 
wrote :  "  My  son  has  already  learnt  the  following  lan 
guages,  —  German,  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Danish, 
English,  French,  Italian,  Portuguese,  Spanish,  Persian, 
Arabic,  Dutch,  Swedish,  Russian,  Slavonic,  Polish, 
Bohemian,  Illyrian.  With  the  addition  of  Low  Ger 
man,  this  makes  in  all  twenty  languages.  Forgive  this 
effusion  of  my  heart  concerning  my  son.  I  did  not 
mean  to  boast  of  him."1  His  memory  was  remark 
able,  and  a  great  part  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  poetry 
had  imprinted  itself  so  indelibly  in  his  mind  that 
he  could  recite  hundreds  of  verses  without  stumbling. 
Even  in  his  later  years,  he  retained  every  poem  which 
appealed  strongly  to  his  heart.  In  conversation  with 
Lieber,  he  once  said:  "Without  a  strong  memory,  I 
never  should  have  been  able  to  write  my  history,  for 
extracts  and  notes  would  not  have  been  sufficient; 
they  would  again  have  formed  an  inaccessible  mass, 

1  "  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Barthold  George  Niebuhr,  with  Essays  on 
His  Character  and  Influence,"  by  the  Chevalier  Bunsen  and  Professors  Brandis 
and  Lorbell,  p.  42. 


40  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

had  I  not  possessed  the  index  in  my  mind."  Niebuhr's 
residence  in  Rome  gave  him  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the.  relics  of  the  ancient  city.  On  one  occasion, 
while  passing  through  Verona  to  Rome,  he  discovered 
in  the  Cathedral  library  of  the  former  city,  the  "  Institu 
tions  "  of  Gaius.  He  also  spent  much  time  in  Rome  in 
an  accurate  examination  of  the  manuscripts  of  the 

/Vatican  library.    (At  the  time  that  Niebuhr  conceived 

v  .  . 

the  idea  of  writing  a  history  of  Rome,  classical  phi 
lology  and  politics  began  to  exert  a  great  influence 
on  historiography.  Historians  began  to  examine  more 
carefully  the  genuineness  of  the  sources  of  history. 
They  realized.,  also,  that  in  the  history  of  a  state,  the 
chief  stress  should  not  be  laid  on  wars,  and  the  per 
sonal  relations  of  princes,  but  on  the  growth  of  its 
form  of  government  and  constitution.  Niebuhr  placed 
the  Roman  constitution  in  the  very  foreground  of  his 
picture.  His  extensive  knowledge  of  the  languages 
enabled  him  to  make  the  most  careful  examination 
of  the  sources  of  history.  He  took  great  delight  in 
applying  the  knowledge  that  he  gathered,  and  he 
loved  science  wherever  it  appeared.' 

\~~/This  was  the  Rome  that  Lieber  enjoyed.]  He  could 
now  well  forget  the  disappointments  of  earlier  life,  for  a 
larger  and  more  beautiful  world  had  been  opened  to 
his  view.  But  Niebuhr  resigned  the  embassy  at  Rome 
in  March,  1823,  and  Lieber's  ties  with  the  family  of 
the  historian  were  soon  to  be  broken.^  They  left  Rome 


RETURN   TO   PRUSSIA  41 

in  May,  and  journeyed  together  through  Florence,  Pisa, 
and  Bologna,  and  then  to  the  Tyrol.  At  Innspruck 
they  parted,  Niebuhr  to  pass  some  time  in  the  libraries 
of  Switzerland,  and  Lieber  to  journey  alone  toward 
Berlin.  Throughout  life  Lieber  held  the  memory  of 
Niebuhr  in  the  profoundest  veneration,  and  erected  a 
monument  to  him  in  his  "  Reminiscences,"  published 
in  1835,  after  he  had  made  his  home  in  America.  In 
the  dedication  of  the  volume  to  Mrs.  Austin,  Lieber 
wrote  :  "  I  could  not  have  graced  with  your  name  any 
pages  dearer  to  me,  though  painfully  dear,  I  own  — 
leaves  written  in  the  greatest  of  cities,  and  under  the 
roof  of  my  best  friend,  now  perused  in  distant  America, 
he  dead,  and  I  in  exile.  I  felt  as  if  I  walked  through 
an  Italian  garden,  charming,  indeed,  with  perfuming 
flowers  and  lovely  alleys  and  fountains,  with  the  luxuri 
ant  trees  of  the  South  in  blossom,  the  fragrant  orange 
and  the  glowing  pomegranate,  and  with  vistas  far  and 
wide  to  the  distant  deep  blue  mountains.  But  I  felt, 
too,  as  if  I  walked  alone  in  it.  With  all  these  joyous 
colors  of  bright  spring  around  me,  and  the  cloudless 
azure  vault  above  me,  I  felt  the  grief  of  loneliness, 
and  every  spot  reminded  me  of  him,  and  what  I  owe 
him." 

Travelling  on  foot  through  Erlangen,  Stuttgart, 
Nuremberg,  and  Dresden,\Lieber  finally  reached  Berlin 
on  August  10,  1823.  His  experiences  in  Greece  and 
the  year  spent  in  Rome  had  wrought  a  great  change 


42  FRANCIS   LIBBER 

in  him.  He  had  become  quieter ;  had  cultivated  a  taste 
for  the  fine  arts,  and  was  writing  many  poems.  His 
boyish  enthusiasm  had  given  way  to  the  love  of  more 
serious  intellectual  pursuits,  and  on  reaching  Berlin 
he  at  once  determined  to  resume  his  studies  in  the 
University,  j  It  will  be  remembered  that,  before  going 
to  Greece,  he  had  been  prohibited  from  studying  in 
Prussia.  It  became  necessary  for  him,  therefore,  to 
secure  this  permission  from  the  authorities  of  the  state, 
and  it  was  not  until  after  frequent  petitions  had  been 
made  that  his  request  was  granted.  His  aged  parents 
had  been  reduced  to  privation  by  the  loss  of  property 
during  the  Napoleonic  wars,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
ask  the  state  for  aid  in  carrying  on  his  studies.  From  a 
fund  set  aside  for  needy  students,  he  was  given  a  small 
sum,  and  he  at  once  began  a  course  in  trigonometry  and 
v  calculus  in  the  University  under  Dr.  Ohm.  But  Prussia 
still  continued  under  the  paternal  system,  and  the  move 
ments  of  the  people  against  tyranny  in  Spain,  Italy, 
and  Greece  created  an  influence  that  was  deeply  felt 
throughout  all  Germany.  .  Prince  Metternich  continued 
his  policy  of  oppression,  and  the  Holy  Alliance  was 
used  by  him  as  an  instrument  for  this  purpose.  At 
the  Congress  of  Verona  in  1822,  the  revolt  of  the 
Greeks  was  treated  as  rebellion  against  legitimate 
authority,  and  the  uprising  was  discouraged.  The 
Carlsbad  resolutions,  establishing  a  censorship  over  the 
press  and  the  universities,  were  endorsed,  and  in  Decem- 


IMPRISONMENT  AT  KOPENICK  43 

her  of  that  year  a  Secret  Committee  of  Inquiry,  com 
posed  of  three  members,  one  from  each  nation,  was 
appointed  to  detect  and  arrest  the  so-called  conspirators 
of  central  Europe.  ;  Although  Lieber  had  conducted 
himself  as  a  peaceable  citizen  since  his  return  to  Berlin, 
he  was  closely  watched  by  the  police.  Various  secret 
clubs,  such  as  the  Jungerbund  and  the  Burschen- 
schaft,  still  existed  among  the  students  in  the  uni 
versities,  and  the  patriots  believed  that  these  societies 
were  calculated  to  restore  the  former  greatness  of 
Germany.  These  clubs  were  looked  upon  in  distrust 
by  the  government,  and  on  February  12,  1824,  Lieber 
was  summoned  to  appear  at  Kopenick,  a  small  town 
eight  miles  from  Berlin.  He  was  wanted  merely  as 
a  witness,  but  he  was  glad  to  be  released,  and  he  made 
every  effort  to  be  transferred  to  another  university. 
He  first  sought  permission  to  continue  his  studies  at 
Bonn,  but  in  May,  1824,  he  was  sent  to  Halle.  The 
police  followed  closely  in  his  path,  and  in  August 
of  that  year  fie  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  at 
Kopenick,  not  for  any  misdeeds,  but  for  refusing  to 
give  to  the  officials  certain  information  that  he  pos 
sessed,  j  The  year  1824  was  particularly  noted  for  the 
large  number  of  arrests  among  the  student  body;  but 
not  satisfied  with  this,  Prussia  issued  a  decree  pro 
hibiting  her  subjects  from  visiting  foreign  universities, 
especially  the  University  of  Basle,  to  which  many 
German  students  had  formerly  resorted.  The  tyranny 


44  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

of  Prussia,  encouraged  by  the  Holy  Alliance,  was 
directed  not  only  against  the  students,  but  many  of 
the  lecturers  and  professors  suffered  as  well.  A  case 
of  pathetic  interest  was  that  of  Charles  Theodore 
Christian  Pollen.  The  son  of  Christopher  Pollen,  he 
was  born  in  Romrod,  September  4,  1796.  He  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Giessen,  served  in  the 
Napoleonic  wars,  and  returned  to  the  University  in  1817, 
to  take  the  degree  of  doctor  of  civil  law.  The  next 
year  he  was  elected  lecturer  on  pandects  at  Jena.  He 
was  arrested  on  suspicion  of  complicity  with  Sand  in 
the  Kotzebue  murder,  but,  being  acquitted,  he  returned 
to  Giessen.  Here  he  incurred  the  dislike  of  the  gov 
ernment  through  his  liberal  ideas  in  politics,  and  in 
1820,  he  was  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Paris.  But 
France  soon  expelled  all  foreigners,  and  Dr.  Pollen 
went  to  Zurich,  where  he  became  professor  of  Latin 
in  the  Cantonal  School.  From  here  he  proceeded  to 
Basle,  to  become  professor  of  civil  law.  But  he  was 
marked  by  the  powers.  On  August  17,  1824,  three 
notes  were  received  by  the  authorities  at  Basle,  from 
Prussia,  Austria,  and  Russia,  demanding  him  to  be 
given  up  to  the  tribunal  of  inquisition  which  the  king 
of  Prussia  had  established  at  Kopenick.  Dr.  Pollen 
escaped  to  America  and  located  in  Boston.  He  became 
instructor  in  German  at  Harvard,  and  in  September, 
1826,  he  took  charge  of  the  new  gymnasium  which 
had  just  been  established  in  Boston.  Dr.  Pollen  was 


DR.  CHARLES   FOLLEN  45 

a  disciple  of   "Father   Jahn,"  and  an    intimate   friend 
of  Dr.   Charles   Beck,  who  was  the  first  instructor  of 
gymnastics    in    America,    having    in    1825,  established 
physical  culture  in  the  Round  Hill  School,  Northamp 
ton.     It  was  the  original  intention  of  Dr.  John  Warren 
and  the  other  supporters  of  the  gymnasium  in  Boston  to 
place  it  in  charge  of  "  Father  Jahn,"  but  he  was  unwill 
ing  to  come  to  America.     Dr.  Follen  also  took  charge 
of  the  gymnastic  exercises  in  Harvard  College ;  but,  in 
1827,  he  resigned  his  position  in  the  Boston  gymnasium, 
and,  by  an  interesting  coincidence,  he  was   succeeded 
by  Lieber.     The  same  year  Dr.  Follen  began  the  study 
of  theology  under  Dr.  Channing,  and  in    1828  began 
to  preach.     Three  years  later  Harvard  made  him  pro 
fessor  of  German  literature ; 1  but  his  zeal  in  the  anti- 
slavery  movement  created  a  prejudice  against  him,  and 
in    1834,  the   chair   was    abolished.      In    1836   he  was 
ordained"  as  a   Unitarian  minister,  and  in   1840,  while 
on  a  trip  from   New  York  to   Boston,  he  lost  his  life 
by   the    burning    of    the    steamship    Lexington.      He 
honored   Harvard  with    his   learning  and  his  writings, 
just   as    Lieber   afterward   increased   the   fame   of   two 
of  our  American  colleges. 

Lieber,   confined   in   prison   at   Kbpenick,  was,  like-  \^ 


1  German  had  never  been  taught  in  the  College  before  Dr.  Pollen's  con 
nection  with  it,  and  after  difficulty  a  class  of  eight  was  formed.  Dr.  Peabody, 
in  his  "  Harvard  Reminiscences,"  claims  that  there  were  but  very  few  persons 
in  New  England  at  the  time  who  could  read  German. 


46  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

wise,  soon  to  flee  for  refuge  to  America.     His  friend 
and  benefactor,  Niebuhr^  had  returned  to  Bonn,  and  he 

-v 

at  once  made  a  personal  effort  to  have  the  young  man 
released.  [Four  times  he  petitioned  the  king,  and  he 
also  visited  Lieber  in  prison  in  order  to  comfort  him. 
Late  in  April,  1825,  after  numerous  promises  and  de 
lays,  he  was  set  free.  But  there  was  no  freedom  for 
him  in  Prussia.  He  could  not  leave  Berlin,  even  on 
a  visit,  without  permission  from  the  police,  and  to 
journey  into  a  neighboring  state,  he  first  had  to  obtain 
the  consent  of  the  tribunal  of  inquisition  at  Kopenigk., 
In  the  brief  intervals,  when  not  hounded  by  the  police, 
Lieber  enjoyed  the  charms  of  Berlin  society,  and  he 
spent  much  of  his  time  with  the  literary  people.  He 
counted  among  his  friends,  Chancellor  von  Hitzig, 
E.  T.  W.  Hoffmann,  the  family  of  General  von  Schack, 
and  Henrietta  Herz.  He  tried  to  gain  a  livelihood  by 
writing  and  teaching,  and  was  a  tutor  for  some  time 
in  the  family  of  Count  von  Bernstorff.  Prison  life  had 
m)  effect  upon  his  cheerful  disposition.  He  spent  the 
time  in  reading  Shakespeare  and  Goethe,  and  in  writ 
ing  poems  of  love  and  liberty.^  He  often  referred  to 
the  days  spent  in  the  Bastile  at  Kopenick,  as  a  period 
in  which  enjoyment  was  the  chief  element  of  his  intel 
lectual  life.  ^He  was  much  influenced  at  this  time  by 
Goethe,  and  he  once  remarked  that  the  more  his  youth 
had  been  guided  by  the  ideas  of  sacrifice  for  others, 
the  more  he  plunged  into  the  idea  of  the  day,  of  the 


FAREWELL  TO   GERMANY  47 

hour.  In  1826,  a  number  of  the  poems  which  he  had 
written  as  a  prisoner,  were  published,  under  the  title 
of  "  Vierzehn  Wein-  und  Wonne-lieder,  by  Arnold 
Franz." 

[Early  in  the  year  1826,  Lieber  began  to  think  seri 
ously  of  leaving  Germany.  .'In  February,  he  took  up 
the  study  of  the  English  language,  and  a  few  weeks 
later  he  made  a  farewell  visit  to  a  married  sister  resid 
ing  at  Zullichau.  "Fatherland,"  in  all  the  ages,  has 
been  a  sacred  word.  With  the  Greeks,  their  native 
land  was  holy,  for  the  gods  dwelt  there.  In  modern 
times,  the  word  suggests  a  thousand  affections  and  in 
fluences,  and  to  break  the  ties  of  country  must  plunge 
the  soul  into  the  deepest  anguish.  Lieber,  who  after 
ward  wrote  so  beautifully  of  the  nature  of  modern  pa 
triotism  in  his  "  Political  Ethics,"  passed  through  this 
experience  as  the  ties  of  home  and  country  were 
severed.  But  like  the  ancients,  he  loved  the  father 
land  for  its  favors,  and  he  loved  it  also  for  its  seventy. 
Before  taking  the  final  step,  he,  therefore,  made  one 
more  effort  to  secure  permanent  employment  at  home. 
Niebuhr  again  came  to  his  assistance,  and  addressed 
a  letter  of  recommendation  to  Count  Bernstorff,  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

For  some  reason,  Lieber  never  presented  this  letter 
to    Count    Bernstorff,  and   it   seems   that   he  was   now 
ready  to  carry  out  his  plan  of  leaving  Germany.    [On * 
May  17,  1826,  he  left  Berlin  with  his  brother  EdwardJ 


48  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

unknown  to  the  other  members  of  the  family.  They 
journeyed  to  Hamburg,  and  from  thence  to  Eppendorff 
and  Blankenese,  reaching  the  latter  place  on  May  21. 
The  next  day  he  boarded  the  ship  Perseverance,  and 
May  26  arrived  at  Gravesend.  He  at  once  \  pro 
ceeded  to  London,  where  he  experienced  the  hardest 
time  of  his  life,  "  doing  uncongenial  work,  and  physi 
cally  laboring  like  an  American  army  mule."  He  spent 
much  time  in  visiting  the  art-galleries  and  museums, 
and  in  studying  the  Lancastrian  Schools.  He  gained 
a  livelihood  by  writing,  and  by  teaching  at  six  shillings 
a  lesson.  /  His  students  came  from  the  most  prominent 
families,  among  them  being  the  children  of  Mrs.  Sam 
uels,  Rothschild's  sister.  He  also  taught  at  the  resi 
dence  of  Mr.  Oppenheimer,  giving  Italian  lessons  to 
the  daughter  Matilda,  whom  he  afterward  married. 
While  Lieber  resided  in  London,  University  College 
was  in  course  of  organization,  and  he  intended  to  apply 
for  the  chair  of  the  German  language.  He  wrote  to 
Germany  for  testimonials,  and  Niebuhr  promptly  re 
sponded,  enclosing  a  warm  letter  of  recommendation. 
He  reminded  Lieber,  however,  that  the  competition 
would  be  great,  and  that  he  would  probably  be  unsuc 
cessful  in  his  application.  He  advised  him  to  become 
acquainted  with  Lord  Brougham,  and,  if  possible,  to 
meet  Mr.  Grote.  Niebuhr  had  no  exalted  opinion  of 
the  new  University,  claiming  that  it  was  erected  by  po 
litical  elements  belonging  to  an  age  gone  by,  and  that 


FROM   ENGLAND   TO   AMERICA 


49 


its  warmest  friends  were  violent   political   economists, 
who  restricted  their  interest  to  the  physical  welfare  of 
the  people.     Before  Lieber  could  make  a  formal  appli 
cation  for  a  professorship  in  the   University  his  plans 
were   again   changed.      About    this   time    he    became 
acquainted  with  Mrs.  Austin,  the  authoress,  who  intro 
duced  him  to  Mr.  John  Neal,  an  American,  residing  in 
Portland.      Lieber   now   began   to   think   of   going   to 
America.     He  gave  the  subject  serious  attention,  when 
he   learned   that    Dr.    Bond,  of   Boston,  was  in   London 
looking  for  a  teacher  in  gymnastics/]  The  resignation 
of    Dr.   Pollen  as  director  of   the  Boston  gymnasium, 
early  in    1827,  led    at   once   to  a  correspondence  with 
Lieber  in  reference  to  the  position.     With  this  bright 
prospect  for  the  future  in  view,  he  at  once  decided  to 
[accept  the  place,  and  early  in  June  of  the  same  year  he  v 
took  passage  for   New  York.      Before   embarking  for   , 
America   he  wrote   to    Niebuhr,  describing   his   plans. 
Niebuhr  approved  of  his  resolution,  and  urged  him  to 
go,  at  the  same  time  advising  hnnj  "  Only  beware  that 
you  do  not  fall  into  an  idolatry  of  the  country,  and  that 
state  of  things  which  is  so  dazzling  because  it  shows 
the   material   world    in    a    favorable    light.      You    are 
able  to  do  this  if  you  will  be  watchful  over  yourself; 
you  have  judgment  and  philosophical  tact  enough  to 
protect    yourself.       Remain    a    German,   and,   without 
counting   hour  and  day,  yet   say  to   yourself   that  the 
hour  and  day  will  come  when  you  will  be  able  to  re- 


50  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

_. 


Niebuhr  also  urged  \with  great  emphasis  that 
he  should  write  no  political  dissertations  and  generali 
ties.  But  Lieber  disobeyed  the  advice  of  his  old  friend, 
for  he  became  an  American  citizen  as  soon  as  possible  ; 
while  his  greatest  fame  rests  upon  his  political  writings. 
Although  he  heeded  not  the  entreaty  in  Schiller's  "  Wil 
liam  Tell," 

"  Cleave  to  thy  fatherland,  thy  country  dear, 
And  with  thy  whole  heart  cling  thou  closely  to  it. 
For  rooted  in  thy  country  is  thy  strength  ; 
Away  in  yon  strange  world,  thou  stand'st  alone," 

he  yet  loved  his  native  land  ;  but  he  became  an  Ameri 
can  by  choice,  seeking  a  refuge  here  because  persecuted 
for  liberty. 


Ill 

LIEBER'S  ARRIVAL  IN  AMERICA  —  EIGHT  YEARS  OF  STRUGGLE 
-  PROFESSORSHIP  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA  COLLEGE 


in  tlie  h*story  of  tne  world  has  so  much 
wisdom  and  humanity  been  shown  as  in  their 
civilization.  Each  new  colony  has  been  received  into 
the  Union  as  soon  as  it  had  the  required  number  of 
inhabitants,  and  allowed  the  same  rights  as  the  older 
ones.  This  proves  that  they  are  free  from  jealousy 
and  tyranny,  and  that  they  are  ruled  by  just  laws. 
I  know  no  people  who  show  more  love  for  all  that  is 
noble.  No  nation  has  ever  made  such  rapid  prog 
ress."1  Thus  wrote  Lieber  at  sea,  on  June  10,  1827, 

<  Cb,^  W*J.  L  ' 

whOe  on  his  way  to  America.  Although  he  did  not 
expect  to  find  a  paradise  in  the  New  World,  he  re 
garded  this  as  a  land  of  promise  where  civilization 
was  making  her  home;  and  he  looked  forward  to  the 
prospect  of  an  active  life,  and  an  opportunity  to  make 
an  honorable  use  of  his  talents.  Landing  at  New 
York  on  June  20,  he  at  once  journeyed  to  Boston.j 
Through  the  kind  words  of  Dr.  Pollen,  he  was  favor 
ably  known  before  arriving  here.2  Dr.  John  Warren 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  70. 

2  On  July  8,  1827,  Lieber  wrote  to  Miss  Oppenheimer  :  "  It  appears  that  the 
testimonial  Niebuhr  sent  me  when  I  thought  of  applying  for  a  professorship 

5* 


52  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

received  him  at  Boston  with  a  cordial  welcome,  and 
his  first  impressions  of  our  country  were  of  a  most 
exalted  character.  He  attended  the  Fourth  of  July 
celebration,  where  he  met  the  governor  and  other 
state  officials.  A  procession  was  then  formed,  com 
posed  of  the  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  the  senate 
and  representatives,  the  faculty  and  students  of  Har 
vard  College,  and  invited  guests.  They  marched  to 
the  Old  South  Church,  to  hear  the  oration,  after 
which  they  returned  to  the  State  House,  where  a  col 
lation  was  served.  Lieber  was  asked  by  the  governor 
to  give  a  toast,  and  he  proposed,  "  Liberty  to  all  the 
civilized  world."  A  gentleman  then  honored  him  by 
giving,  "  The  Germans,  who,  although  not  yet  enjoy 
ing  liberty,  have  nevertheless  been  the  pioneers  of 
liberty, — the  inventors  of  the  art  of  printing."  What  a 
contrast  this  scene  afforded  to  the  zealous  advocate  of 
liberty,  who  for  this  cause  had  suffered  in  the  prison 
cell  at  Kopenick !  While  in  Germany  it  was  looked 
upon  as  a  crime  for  an  individual  to  express  a  senti 
ment  of  freedom,  in  America  he  saw  a  great  people 
rejoicing  on  their  natal  day,  and  blessing  the  memory 
of  their  heroes.  It  is  no  wonder  that  he  wrote  at 
this  time :  "  How  is  it  that  the  Europeans  pride 
themselves  on  their  historical  development?  Let  them 

at  the  London  University,  and  which  I  had  fortunately  sent  to  Follen,  that  he 
might  show  it  to  others  if  he  thought  proper,  and  let  them  see  what  manner  of 
fish  they  had  caught,  has  made  a  great  impression." 


THE   BOSTON   GYMNASIUM  53 

come  here,  and  they  will  find  far  more  of  real  living 
history  than  on  the  old  continent,  where  institutions 
are  changed  at  the  arbitrary  will  of  some  powerful 
monarch  or  his  ambitious  minister.  The  law  reigns 
here.  Every  citizen  honors  it  as  his  birthright.  He 
knows  that  it  is  necessary,  and  abides  by  its 
mandates." 

IJLieber  at  once  entered  upon  his  duties  in  charge 
of  the  Boston  gymnasium.  He  brought  with  him  to 
America  a  strong  testimonial  from  General  von  Pfuel, 
who  had  established  a  number  of  swimming  schools 
in  the  German  cities.  This  letter  spoke  of  Lieber's 
ability  to  conduct  a  swimming  school  successfully,  and 
he  soon  added  this  feature  to  the  gymnasium.  The 
success  of  the  enterprise  was  assured  from  the  start. 
The  swimming  school  was  visited  by  the  mayor  and 
other  prominent  citizens  of  Boston;  while  on  one 
occasion,  President  Adams  came  to  examine  Lieber's 
plan.  He  praised  the  school,  expressing  the  wish 
that  there  were  many  such  establishments  in  the 
country,  as  he  had  never  found  greater  refreshment 
after  mental  exertion  than  from  swimming. 

;The  swimming  school  having  closed  for  the  season  * 
in  September,  Lieber  found  himself  in  a  strange  land 
without  any  permanent  employment.  ]  Before  coming 
to  America,  he  had  written  to  Niebuhr,  expressing  his 
wish  to  become  correspondent  to  the  best  German 
papers.  Niebuhr  at  once  communicated  with  Baron 


54  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

Cotta,1  and  made  known  the  desires  of  his  young 
friend.  The  Baron  gave  the  matter  a  favorable  recep 
tion,  and  offered  a  list  of  seven  papers  to  which  Lieber 
might  correspond,  the  most  important  being  the  All- 
gemeine  Zeitung.  *<  In  a  letter  to  Lieber,  on  September 
12,  1827,  Niebuhr  gave  specific  directions  in  regard 
to  the  nature  of  the  correspondence,  stating  that  it 
should  include  extensive  statistical  and  ethnographic 
accounts,  moral  and  personal  relations,  political  events 
and  legislative  acts,  and  descriptions  of  the  neighbor 
ing  British  provinces,  and  the  South  American  states. 
Niebuhr  had  a  high  ideal  of  the  newspaper  corre 
spondent.  He  remarked  in  this  letter :  "  The  task  is 
not  easy.  I  require  of  a  correspondent  of  a  newspaper 
the  same  that  I  endeavored  to  do  in  my  reports  to 
the  king  when  I  was  minister,  and  what  I,  as  Secretary 
of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  should  expect  from  every 
diplomatic  agent.  It  is  all-important  to  be  conscien 
tious  and  true  to  the  letter.  The  correspondent  of  a 
newspaper  is  the  ambassador,  not  of  its  proprietor, 
but  jof  the  public."2 
\/  '\  This  experience  in  newspaper  work  gave  Lieber  an 

1  Johann  Friedrich  Freiherr  Cotta  von  Cottendorf  (1764-1832)  was  the  son 
of  Johann  George  Cotta,  founder  of  the  illustrious  Cotta  publishing  house. 
He  was  educated  at  Tubingen,  and  in  1787  he  undertook  to  conduct  the 
publishing  business  at  Tubingen.     In  1798,  he  started  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung, 
of  which  Schiller  was  to  be  the  editor.     In  1795,  he  founded  with  Schiller 
the  Horen,  a  periodical  devoted  to  German  literature.     Cotta  was  an  unfailing 
friend  of  young  struggling  men  of  talent. 

2  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  I,  p.  72. 


PROJECTS   OF  AUTHORSHIP  55 

extensive    knowledge    of    American    affairs,   and    sug 
gested   to   him   the    idea   of   editing   an   encyclopaedia, 
based  upon  Brockhaus' "Conversations-Lexikon."    Many 
years    later    Dr.    la    Borde,    of    South    Carolina    Col 
lege,    frequently    conversed    with     Lieber    about    this 
period  of  his    life,  of   which   the   following   interesting 
account   is   given    in    the  "History  of  South  Carolina 
College":    "One   afternoon   in    Boston,   when   a   dark 
cloud   was    resting   upon   his   mind,   he   threw  himself 
upon    his    bed,    and    indulged    in    profound    reflection. 
4  What  shall   I    do  ? '   was   the   overwhelming  question. 
He  felt   that  his  brain  was   the  only  thing  which  he 
could    draw   upon    for    support.      But    how    was    that 
brain  to   be    used  ?      In  what  channel  were  his  labors 
to    be    directed?       In    reading    the    lives    of    eminent 
scholars,  how  often  do  we  find  that  at  the  outset  they 
have  been  borne  down,  and  for  a  period  made  miser 
able   by    this    burdensome    and    heartrending   thought. 
Many  a  genius,  under  similar  circumstances,  has  sunk 
never  to  rise  again.     A  volume  of  the  'Conversations- 
Lexikon  '  happened  to  lie  on  a  table  in  his  room.     As 
his    eye    rested    upon    it,   he    exclaimed   aloud,  '  That's 
the  thing;   I'll  write  an  encyclopaedia.'     He  wrote  out 
a  plan  at  once,  carried  it  to  some  of  the  leading  men 
of  Boston,  and  they  gave  it  a  hearty  approval." 

In  this  project,  Lieber  was  assisted  by  some  of  our 
most  prominent  scholars  and  statesmen.  Bancroft, 
Everett,  Dr.  Pollen,  and  many  other  scholars  spoke 


56  FRANCIS    LIEBER 

in  the  highest  terms  of  the  proposed  encyclopaedia; 
while  Judge  Story,  Dr.  J.  G.  Palfrey,  J.  K.  Paulding, 
George  Ticknor,  Dr.  Walter  Channing,  and  Dr.  Orville 
Dewey  were  among  the  chief  contributors.  In  Janu 
ary,  1828,  definite  arrangements  were  made  with  Carey, 
Lea  and  Carey,  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  publication  of 
the  work,  and  it  was  decided  to  give  it  the  title,  "  En 
cyclopaedia  Americana."  The  "Encyclopaedia"  was  to 
consist  of  thirteen  volumes,  the  first  appearing  in  the 
year  1829.  The  amount  of  labor  required  in  its  prep 
aration  was  enormous.  Twelve  translators  and  many 
contributors  were  constantly  employed.  Lieber  had 
to  think  of  a  thousand  different  things.  One  moment 
he  would  dip  into  French  philosophy,  and  the  next  he 
would  be  writing  an  article  on  "  Cookery."  He  had 
trouble  with  the  printers,  and  often  it  was  necessary 
for  him  to  rewrite  articles  that  others  had  prepared. 
Judge  Story  rendered  Lieber  the  most  valuable  assist 
ance,  which  is  gratefully  remembered  in  the  following 
language :  "  I  shall  never  forget  the  offer  he  made  to 
contribute  some  articles  when  I  complained  of  my 
embarrassment  as  to  getting  proper  articles  on  the 
main  subjects  of  law  for  my  work  intended  for  the 
general  reader.  Many  of  these  were  sent  from  Wash 
ington  while  he  was  fully  occupied  with  the  important 
duties  of  the  Supreme  Court.1  He  himself  made  out 

1  "  The  fact  is  that  I  am  constantly  engaged  in  writing  for  the  press,  my 
new  and  second  volume  on  Equity,  and  my  progress  against  this  printer's  devil 


PROJECTS   OF   AUTHORSHIP  57 

the  lists  of  articles  to  be  contributed  by  him,  and  I  do 
not  remember  ever  having  been  obliged  to  wait  for 
one.  The  only  condition  this  kind-hearted  man  made 
was  that  I  should  not  publish  the  fact  that  he  had 
contributed  the  articles  in  the  work  until  some  period 
subsequent  to  their  appearance.  The  contributions 
of  Judge  Story  comprise  more  than  one  hundred  and 
twenty,  pages,  closely  printed  in  double  columns.  I 
may  add  that  Judge  Story  made  his  offer  at  a  time 
when  he,  to  whom  it  was  made,  was  known  to  very 
few  persons  in  this  country,  and  had  but  lately  arrived 
here;  and  that  he  took  at  once  the  liveliest  and  most 
active  interest  in  the  whole  enterprise,  and  contributed 
much  to  cheer  on  the  stranger  in  his  arduous  task." 
I  The  "Encyclopaedia"  proved  to  be  a  financial  success. 
In  1829,  immediately  after  the  first  two  volumes  had 
been  published,  four  thousand  copies  were  sold.  It 
brought  Lieber  into  prominence,  and  he  enjoyed  the 
companionship  of  great  men.  ;  He  had  occasion  to  pay 
frequent  visits  to  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore, 
and  Washington.  Judge  Marcy  received  him  cordially 
and  promised  to  help  him.  He  called  on  the  Presi 
dent,  and  was  pleased  to  find  a  volume  of  the  "  Ency- 

and  all  his  imps  is  necessarily  slow.  Think  of  this  :  that  I  have  published  a 
volume  of  six  hundred  and  ninety  pages  last  year,  and  am  to  write  another  of 
the  same  size  this  year.  Besides,  I  have  a  crowded  correspondence  of  all 
sorts,  and  am  like  a  miller  compelled  to  wait  and  give  each  his  turn  at 
the  mill  in  due  order."  — LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  JOSEPH  STORY,  vol.  2, 
p.  230. 


58  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

clopaedia"  on  the  table.  He  dined  with  Mr.  Gallatin, 
and  declared  that  he  felt  quite  clerical  among  all  the 
reverend  black  coats.  He  still  retained  charge  of 
the  swimming  school,  and  swam  occasionally  with  Mr. 
Audubon,  the  ornithologist.  He  expressed  a  desire  to 
accompany  Audubon  to  Labrador,  but  added,  "  I  must 
work,  work,  work."  The  "  Encyclopaedia "  was  so  im 
portant  a  publication  in  its  day  that  it  deserves  more 
than  a  passing  notice.  When  Lieber  began  work  upon 
it,  he  was  practically  a  stranger,  but  he  soon  became 
known  as  the  pioneer  in  this  kind  of  literature]  He 
rendered  a  most  valuable  service  in  editing  a  work, 
the  purpose  of  which  was  the  diffusion  of  knowledge. 
In  the  preparation  of  the  "Encyclopaedia,"  Lieber  re 
ceived  a  rich  compensation  by  gaining  a  more  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  institutions  and  history  of  our  country. 
The  work  was  designed  to  be  an  American  encyclo 
paedia,  and  in  preparing  his  share  of  the  articles,  it 
became  necessary  for  him  to  make  a  careful  study  of 
a  number  of  topics  relating  to  our  national  life.  The 
knowledge  thus  gained  was  of  inestimable  value  to 
him  in  the  preparation  of  his  various  philosophical 
works. 

Lieber  was  now  in  more  prosperous  circumstances, 
and  on  September  21,  1829,  he  married  Miss  Matilda 
Oppenheimer,  whom  he  first  met  in  England./  Their 
union  was  blessed  with  four  children,  a  daughter  who 
died  in  infancy,  and  three  sons,  Oscar  Montgomery, 


PROJECTS   OF  AUTHORSHIP  59 

Hamilton,  and  Guido  Norman.1  This  was  a  busy 
period  for  Lieber.  He  was  constantly  engaged  in 
preparing  lectures  for  the  Athenaeum  and  the  Boston 
Society  of  Useful  Knowledge,  or  in  writing  articles  for 
the  "  Encyclopaedia "  and  for  Cotta.  He  soon  became 
prominent  in  educational  circles,  and  on  October  20, 
1830,  he  attended  an  important  gathering  of  scholars 
in  New  York  City.  On  January  6  of  this  year,  a  plan 
was  suggested  for  the  establishment  of  a  university 
in  New  York  City,  and  in  the  month  of  September, 

1  Oscar  Montgomery  Lieber,  a  geologist,  was  born  in  Boston,  Sept.  8,  1830, 
and  died  in  Richmond,  July  22,  1862.  He  was  educated  at  Berlin,  Gottingen, 
and  Freiburg.  He  was  state  geologist  of  Mississippi  from  1850  to  1851,  and 
was  engaged  in  the  geological  survey  of  Alabama  from  1854  to  1855.  In 
1856  he  was  made  geological  surveyor  of  South  Carolina.  In  1860,  he 
accompanied  the  American  astronomical  expedition  to  Labrador,  as  geologist. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  he  entered  the  Confederate  army,  and 
died  of  wounds  received  at  Williamsburg.  He  was  the  author  of  an  assayer's 
guide,  and  had  also  translated  from  the  German,  "  The  Analytical  Chemist's 
Assistant,"  by  Friedrich  Woehler,  of  Gottingen. 

Hamilton  Lieber  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  June  7,  1835,  and  died  in 
Baden-Baden,  Germany,  October  18,  1876.  He  entered  the  volunteer  army 
as  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  Ninth  Illinois  Regiment.  He  was  badly  wounded 
at  Fort  Donelson,  where  he  lost  his  left  arm.  In  1866,  he  was  made  captain 
and  military  storekeeper. 

Guido  Norman  Lieber  was  born  in  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  May  21, 
1837.  He  graduated  at  South  Carolina  College,  1856,  and  at  the  Harvard 
Law  School  in  1859.  In  that  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the  New  York  bar. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  he  joined  the  Eleventh  Infantry,  U.  S.army, 
and  was  appointed  regimental  adjutant.  He  was  bre vetted  several  times  for 
bravery,  and  was  finally  transferred  to  the  judge-advocate  general's  office, 
Washington.  From  1876  to  1882,  he  was  professor  of  military  law  at  West 
Point,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  department  of  Military  Justice,  Wash 
ington.  He  is  at  present  judge-advocate  general. 


60  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

the  friends  of  the  proposed  university  appointed  a  com 
mittee  to  invite  delegates.  On  the  day  selected  for  the 
meeting,  one  hundred  members,  representing  various 
educational  institutions,  were  present.  Lieber  took 
an  active  part  in  all  of  the  proceedings.  Topics  for 
discussion  were  announced  relating  to  European  uni 
versities,  organization  of  American  colleges,  systems  of 
college  discipline,  advantages  of  a  large  city  as  the  seat 
of  a  university,  extensive  libraries,  instruction  by  public 
lectures,  necessity  for  educating  classical  teachers,  im 
portance  of  a  department  of  English  language,  a  national 
society  for  the  promotion  of  science  and  literature, 
importance  of  civil  and  political  institutions  of  our 
country  as  a  subject  of  study,  and  religious  instruction 
in  colleges.  Lieber  read  an  exhaustive  paper  on  the 
organization,  courses  of  study  and  discipline  of  German 
universities,  which  was  received  with  deep  interest. 
He  was  a  prominent  member  of  several  committees, 
and  he  won  the  respect  of  the  most  learned  scholars 
present  by  his  clear  views  on  educational  questions. 
The  convention  adjourned  on  October  23,  and  in  some 
respects  it  was  one  of  the  most  important  gatherings 
of  college  men  ever  held  in  this  country. 

In  1834,  Lieber's  abilities  were  recognized  by  the 
Trustees  of  Girard  College,  when  they  invited  him  to 
submit  a  plan  for  the  organization  of  that  institution. 
He  entered  upon  the  preparation  of  this  plan  with  a 
pious  feeling.  He  drew  up  an  elaborate  constitution, 


PROJECTS  OF   AUTHORSHIP  6 1 

consisting  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  articles,  be 
sides  seventy-eight  rules  and  regulations.1  Writing 
from  Paris  in  1834,  Edward  Livingston  said  of  the 
plan :  "  You  have  written  three  lines  which  ought  for 
ever  to  be  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  all  teachers, 
whether  of  science,  politics,  or  religion.  I  know  of  no 
truth  more  happily  expressed,  than  that  'there  is  a  re 
ligion  under  all  the  variety  of  sects;  there  is  a  patriot 
ism  under  all  the  variety  of  parties ;  there  is  a  love  of 
knowledge  and  true  science  under  all  the  variety  of 
theories.' " 

Lieber's  journal  during  these  years,  shows  his  keen 
anxiety  for  some  permanent  position.  Some  of  the 
most  distinguished  lawyers  of  the  country  urged 
him  to  study  law  as  a  profession,  and  Judge  Story 
was  particularly  anxious  that  he  should  pursue  this 
course. 

He  made  an  effort  to  secure  a  foreign  mission,  and 
in  this  he  was  encouraged  by  Mr.  Diddle.2  Disap 
pointed  in  this  ambition,  he  wrote :  "  Castles  in  the  air 
about  Europe.  Oh,  that  they  might  become  realities ! 

1  "  A  Constitution  and  Plan  for  Girard  College  for  Orphans,"  with  an  In 
troductory  Report  by  Francis  Lieber.    Carey:  Philadelphia,  1834. 

2  "  As  to  an  appointment  under  government,  I  cannot  think  of  any  office  I 
should  desire,  except  one  that  is  not  very  likely  to  be  given  to  me,  — a  charge 
d*affaires-$\\\v  at  one  of  the  northern  courts,  or,  at  any  rate,  in  Europe.     I 
have  long  wished  it  in  order  to  write  a  work  which  has  long  been  in  my 
mind;  the  'Life  and  Times  of  William,  the  Founder  of  the  Netherlands  Re 
public,'— the  only  parallel  hero  to  Washington."— LIEBER  IN  A  LETTER  TO 
Miss  DOROTHEA  Dix. 


62  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

I  cannot  say  I  have  homesickness  for  Germany,  —  but 
for  Europe,  for  science  and  art."  His  mind  was  also 
filled  with  many  projects  of  authorship.  In  1827,  he 
wrote  to  Jared  Sparks,  suggesting  a  German  edition 
of  Washington's  writings.  He  thought  they  would  be 
of  great  value  for  general  history,  and  that  through  his 
friend,  Niebuhr,  a  German  publisher  could  be  secured. 
At  another  time,  the  idea  of  writing  a  constitutional 
history  of  Rome  occurred  to  him,  while  he  also  had  some 
correspondence  with  Secretary  of  State,  Livingston,  in 
regard  to  preparing  a  history  of  representative  govern 
ments.  He  made  proposals  to  the  Harpers  about  a 
Life  of  Prince  Bliicher,  and  suggested  to  Mr.  Stone 
of  New  York  his  project  of  an  advertising  paper.  He 
called  the  attention  of  some  of  our  statesmen  to  the 
-v  importance  of  a  Board  of  Statistics  as  a  department  in 
the  government.  He  knew  the  value  of  such  a  Board 
to  Prussia,  and  he  unfolded  his  plan  in  the  following 
letter  to  Jared  Sparks  on  Jan.  25,  1834:  "I  wish  to 
inform  you  of  yet  another  scheme  I  have  in  view.  No 
one  can  know  better  '  than  yourself  that  it  is  of  great 
importance  to  the  United  States  to  collect  in  some 
way  or  other  the  statistics  of  this  country.  If  it  is 
important  in  all  countries,  —  Prussia  and  France  have 
already  boards  of  statistics,  and  the  British  government 
has  lately  established  something  similar,  —  it  is  pecul 
iarly  so  in  this  country  on  account  of  the  character 
of  those  subjects  on  which  government  legislates,  as 


PROJECTS   OF   AUTHORSHIP  63 

well  as  on  account  of  the  character  of  our  general 
government,  which  renders  the  collection  of  statistics 
peculiarly  difficult.  Mr.  Livingston,  when  Secretary  of 
State,  was  not  even  able  to  collect  information  as  to 
the  taxation  of  citizens  of  the  United  States.  I  have, 
therefore,  in  view,  to  propose  to  Congress  to  make  an 
appropriation  for  the  collection  of  all  possible  materials 
used  in  giving  light  in  all  matters  connected  with  pub 
lic  economy  and  the  statistics  of  the  United  States.  I 
have  a  plan,  how  this  is  to  be  effected,  in  my  mind. 
Persons  of  all  parties  to  whom  I  have  communicated  it, 
appeared  to  be  much  pleased  with  it,  and  promised  to 
give  it  all  support  in  their  power.  I  shall  proceed  some 
time  this  winter  to  Washington,  well  harnessed  with 
letters.  What  do  you,  knowing  Congress  well  as  to 
such  matters,  think  of  my  plan?  Do  you  think  it 
feasible?  And  if  so,  can  you  give  me  any  advice, 
direction,  support?  Will  you  give  me  some  letters? 
I  have  a  very  kind  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr. 
Appleton  to  Mr.  Clay,  and  shall  ask  Mr.  Sergeant  for 
one  to  Mr.  Binney.  I  know  Mr.  McLane,  Mr.  Wood- 
bury,  and  Mr.  Butler.  Will  it  be  necessary  to  write 
to  Mr.  Everett,  or  should  I  write  to  Mr.  Ticknor  to 
write  to  Mr.  Webster  about  it?  I  would  beg  you 
not  to  mention  anything  about  this  affair  to  anybody 
in  Boston  or  Washington  until  I  go."  Lieber's  re 
sources  in  subjects  for  authorship  had  no  limit.  At 
one  time  he  had  the  following  subjects  in  his  head: 


64  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

Letters  on  my  Trip  to  Niagara,  Principles  of  Legis 
lation,  Penology,  Education  and  Journey  to  Europe. 
He  was  anxious  to  secure  a  position  that  would  afford 
him  leisure  for  these  many  literary  tasks.  On  one 
occasion,  he  wrote :  "  I  have  suffered  much  in  these 
days.  I  cannot  yet  write  without  a  bleeding  heart. 
It  is  painful  to  write  in  a  journal  after  hopes  have 
been  blighted,  of  which  the  preceding  pages  show 
so  many  traces.  God  grant  that  I  find  at  last  a 
fixed  spot." 

One  of  Lieber's  truest  friends  in  this  period  of 
uncertainty  was  Charles  Sumner.  They  became  ac 
quainted  in  Washington,  in  1834,  while  Sumner  was 
a  guest  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Peyton.  Sev 
eral  members  of  Congress,  and  other  persons  of  dis 
tinction,  among  them  Lieber,  stopped  here  also.  He 
was  introduced  to  Sumner  by  a  note  from  Richard 
Peters,  and  a  long  friendship  at  once  began.  From 
1834  to  1872,  they  were  regular  correspondents, 
except  for  an  interval  of  eight  years,  of  which  I  shall 
speak  in  another  chapter.  Lieber  had  a  real  affec 
tion  for  Sumner,  and  his  letters  were  frequent  and 
lengthy.  More  than  one  thousand  of  these  letters 
were  preserved  by  Sumner,  and  they  indicate  a  mutual 
attachment  rarely  to  be  met.  When  Sumner  was  about 
to  sail  for  Europe  in  1837,  Judge  Story  wrote:  "What 
poor  Lieber  will  do  without  you,  I  know  not.  He 
will  die,  I  fear,  for  want  of  a  rapid,  voluminous,  and 


RELATIONS   WITH   SUMNER  65 

never-ending  correspondence."  Lieber's  capacity  for 
literary  work  was  extraordinary,  and  in  his  enthusi 
asm,  he  often  set  heavy  tasks  upon  his  friends,  and 
put  their  good  natures  to  a  strain.  He  made  con 
stant  requisitions  upon  Sumner  in  the  preparation  of 
his  books,  and  was  promptly  honored  with  the  infor 
mation  wanted.  He  wrote  to  Sumner  in  1837:  "Let 
me  thank  you,  my  dear  friend,  most  heartily,  for  your 
kind  additions  of  stock  to  my  work  in  your  last. 
The  interest  I  see  you  take  in  my  book  cheers  me 
much.  Contribute  more  and  more.  It  will  all  be 
thankfully  received ;  only  I  am  afraid  I  shall  be  em 
barrassed  how  to  use  it.  I  cannot  all  the  time  say, 
'contributed  by  a  friend,'  and  yet  I  do  not  want  to 
plume  myself  with  your  feathers  .  .  .  and,  my  dear 
fellow,  if  it  were  not  asking  too  much,  I  would  beg 
you  to  grant  me  a  pigeon-hole  in  your  mind  while 
abroad  ;  say,  if  you  would,  a  memorandum  book  with 
this  title:  'All  sorts  of  stuff  for  Lieber.'"  But 
Sumner  was  amply  repaid  for  his  kindness,  for  he 
found  in  Lieber  an  excellent  guide  in  political  phi 
losophy,  and  frequently  sought  his  advice  on  inter 
national  questions.  His  deep  affection  for  Lieber  is 
shown  in  the  following  letter:  "You  are  one  of  the 
few  men  I  wish  to  see  with  a  fortune,  because  I  believe 
you  would  use  it  as  one  who  has  God's  stamp  should. 
It  will  be  only  a  novum  organon  for  higher  exer 
tion.  You  love  labor  so  lovingly,  and  drive  it 


66  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

with  such  effect,  that  I  would  risk  you  with  Croesus's 
treasury." 1 

Through  all  these  years  of  toil,  Lieber  yearned  for 
the  time  to  write  upon  subjects  that  had  long  occu 
pied  his  mind.  He  was  dissatisfied  with  his  work  on 
the  "  Encyclopaedia,"  and  felt  that  it  must  eventually  be 
supplanted.  He  had  ambitions  to  leave  a  work  behind 
him  that  would  live  in  spite  of  the  changes  of  time ; 
but  he  did  not  have  the  leisure  to  concentrate  his 
thoughts.  In  1834,  he  made  his  residence  in  Phila 
delphia,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  Nicholas 
Biddle  and  Hon.  Thomas  Drayton,  formerly  of  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina.  These  gentlemen,  with  Judge 
Story,  interested  themselves  in  Lieber's  behalf  to 
c  obtain  for  him  either  the  presidency  or  a  professorship 
^m  South  Carolina  College,] which  at  the  time  was  being 
reorganized.  The  governor  of  South  Carolina  became 
an  ardent  supporter  of  Lieber  for  a  place  in  the  new 
faculty,  and  on  June  5,  1835,  he  was  unanimously 
elected  professor  of  history  and  political  economy. 
This  College  was  a  good  field  for  the  introduction  of 
the  subjects  belonging  to  Lieber's  chair.  The  ten- 

1  Lieber  once  wrote  to  Sumner  in  regard  to  wealth :  "  What  you  say 
respecting  my  probable  application  if  I  were  rich,  is  true.  I  would  not, 
indeed,  like  Lord  Egerton,  translate,  if  I  had,  like  him,  ninety  thousand 
pounds  sterling  a  year;  but  whenever  I  have  had  money  and  time,  I  have 
not  only  been  more  industrious,  but  my  mind  has  been  more  productive.  So 
if  you  know  some  old  Girard,  have  no  fear ;  tell  him  to  leave  me  a  million, 
and  I  will  make  young  men  of  talent  work  and  produce  in  a  way  that  it  shall 
be  a  pleasure  to  contemplate." 


SOUTH   CAROLINA   COLLEGE  67 

dency  of  the  Southern  youth  to  enter  public  life,  made 
history  and  politics  the  most  popular  subjects  of  the 
course.  As  early  as  1815,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
favored  a  professorship  of  political  economy.  In 
1823,  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper  suggested  that  lectures  be 
given  in  this  subject,  and  the  next  year  he  began  a 
course.  The  career  of  Dr.  Cooper  in  the  College, 
immediately  preceding  that  of  Lieber,  is  of  peculiar 
interest  to  the  student  of  educational  history.  He 
was  born  in  London  in  1759,  and  was  educated  at 
Oxford.  Opposing  the  political  views  of  Burke  in  a 
pamphlet,  he  left  England  under  a  threat  of  prosecu 
tion.  He  took  up  his  residence  at  Northumberland, 
Pennsylvania,  with  his  friend,  Dr.  Priestley.  At  this 
time,  the  country  was  in  a  state  of  excitement  over 
the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  and  in  the  year  1800,  he 
was  sentenced  to  six  months'  imprisonment  and  a 
fine  of  four  hundred  dollars  for  a  violent  attack  on 
President  Adams.  After  being  released  from  prison, 
he  became  in  succession  land  commissioner,  judge, 
professor  of  chemistry  in  Dickinson  College,  professor 
of  chemistry  and  mineralogy  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  professor  of  chemistry,  and  after 
ward  president  of  South  Carolina  College.  Jefferson 
had  also  selected  him  as  a  professor  in  the  newly 
founded  University  of  Virginia;  but  his  liberal  reli 
gious  views  were  offensive  to  the  people,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  resign.  Jefferson  expressed  his  regret  in 


68  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

the  following  language :  "  I  do  sincerely  lament  that 
untoward  circumstances  have  brought  on  us  the  irrep 
arable  loss  of  this  professor,  whom  I  have  looked  to 
as  the  corner-stone  of  our  edifice.  I  know  no  one 
who  could  have  aided  us  so  much  in  forming  the 
future  regulations  for  our  infant  institution ;  and 
although  we  may,  perhaps,  obtain  from  Europe  equiv 
alents  in  science,  they  can  never  replace  the  advan 
tages  of  his  experience,  his  knowledge  of  the  character, 
habits,  and  manners  of  our  country,  his  identification 
with  its  sentiments  and  principles,  and  high  reputa 
tion  he  has  obtained  in  it  generally." 

In  1819,  Dr.  Cooper  was  elected  professor  of 
chemistry  in  South  Carolina  College,  and  a  year 
later,  on  the  death  of  Dr.,  Maxcy,  he  succeeded  to 
the  presidency  of  the  institution.  His  career  as  pro 
fessor  and  president  was  one  of  restless  activity.  His 
weak  discipline,  together  with  his  infidel  views  nearly 
wrecked  the  College.  He  lectured  on  the  Pentateuch, 
and  made  vigorous  attacks  upon  the  orthodox  view  of 
geology.  Dr.  Sims,  in  his  autobiography,  writes  of 
Dr.  Cooper  as  follows :  "  It  is  a  wonder  that  a  coun 
try  as  full  of  Presbyterianism  and  bigotry  as  that  was 
at  the  time,  should  have  tolerated  a  man  in  his  posi 
tion,  especially  when  advocating  and  teaching  upon 
such  an  unnecessary  subject.  Dr.  Cooper  lived  before 
his  day.  If  he  had  flourished  now,  in  the  days  of 
Darwin,  and  Tyndall,  and  Huxley,  he  would  have 


SOUTH   CAROLINA   COLLEGE  69 

been  a  greater   infidel  than  any  or  all   three   of   them 
together."     Dr.  Cooper's  teachings  aroused  the  greatest 
opposition  throughout  the  state.     As  the  trustees  of  the 
College  remained  loyal  to  him,  the  campaign  was  car 
ried  to  the  state  legislature.      On  December  7,  1831, 
the    House   of    Representatives   ordered   the    Board   of 
Trustees  "  to  inquire  whether   Dr.  Cooper  has  wilfully 
and  unnecessarily  promulgated  any  opinions  which  are 
justly  offensive  to  any  considerable  portion  of  the  people 
of   the   state."     On    December   8,    1832,   the    Trustees 
disposed  of  the  charges  against  Dr.  Cooper  by  unani 
mously    exonerating    him.        But    as    popular    feeling 
continued    strong   against   him,   he   proposed,  in    1833, 
his  willingness  to  resign  the  presidency,  retaining  the 
position  of   chemical   lecturer.     The    Board    agreed  to 
this   proposition,    at   the   same  time  granting  him  the 
salary    of    a    full    professor.      The    College    was    now 
reduced  to  a  most  wretched  condition,  with  an  attend 
ance    of    not    more    than    twenty-five   students.      The 
only  hope  was   in  a   complete   reorganization,   and   on 
December    3,    1834,    the    Board    of    Trustees    resolved 
that  "  the   president,  professors,  and  instructors  of  the 
College  be  requested  to  resign  for  the  purpose  of  hav 
ing  the  vacancy  filled  by  such  persons  as  the  Trustees 
may  hereafter  elect."    As  before  stated,  Lieber's  election 
to    the   professorship  of   history  and  political  economy 
was    a    part    of    the    reorganization   scheme    that    the 
College  authorities  agreed  upon  at  this  time. 


IV 


HIS    SOUTHERN    EXILE LONGING    FOR    THE    NORTH 

VISITS    EUROPE HIS    RESIGNATION 

IT  was  Lieber's  fate  to  encounter  many  obstacles  in 
his  career.  As  a  boy  his  soul  longed  for  liberty,  and 
for  this  he  fought  in  the  Waterloo  campaign ;  but  re 
turning  home,  his  hopes  were  blasted,  and  he  was  even 
confined  to  a  prison  cell.  Realizing  that  there  was  no 
liberty  in  Prussia,  he  determined  to  assist  the  struggling 
Greeks  to  obtain  that  which  was  denied  him  at  home. 
Again  he  met  with  disappointment,  and  he  became  dis 
gusted  with  the  miserable  condition  of  the  degraded 
Moreans.  In  America,  civilization  and  liberty  were 
making  their  home,  and  he  turned  to  this  land  of 
promise  to  realize  his  fondest  dreams.  But  he  found, 
even  in  America,  a  portion  of  the  human  race  enslaved, 
and  this  earnest  advocate  of  liberty  was  compelled  to 
make  his  home  in  the  very  midst  of  the  slave  power. 
He  had  no  desire  to  go  to  the  South,  but  after  a  strug 
gle  of  eight  years  in  the  North  he  felt  compelled  to 
accept  the  position  in  order  to  provide  for  his  family. 
It  also  afforded  him  the  opportunity  to  write  his  "  Po 
litical  Ethics,"  "  Legal  and  Political  Hermeneutics,"  and 

7° 


HIS   SOUTHERN    EXILE  7! 

"  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  the  three  great 
works  upon  which  his  fame  will  chiefly  rest.  Although 
he  made  many  warm  friends  in  South  Carolina,  he  was 
not  at  home  there.  On  February  28,  1835,  ne  wrote 
to  his  friend  Mittermaier :  "  I  must  bid  farewell  to  all 
that  is  most  precious  and  dear  to  me,  and  shall  be  com 
pelled  to  live  in  a  slave  state ;  yet  I  shall  then  have  a 
settled  sphere  of  activity,  and  shall  be  able  to  exert  my 
influence  in  the  right  direction.  It  will  give  me  the 
means  of  supporting  my  family,  and  the  time  to  write 
on  subjects  which  have  long  occupied  my  mind.  But 
I  must  then  depend  still  more  upon  my  friends,  and 
especially  upon  you.  What  could  I  do  in  my  exile 
without  your  support,  and  without  literary  connection 
with  Europe?"  In  his  diary,  October  10,  1835,  he  ex 
pressed  his  feelings  as  follows :  "  I  feel,  now,  far  removed 
from  active,  progressive,  and  intellectual  life.  And  then 
slavery!  This  nasty,  dirty,  selfish  institution."  On 
October  27,  1835,  he  wrote  to  Sumner:  "How  do  I 
like  the  South  ?  Why,  if  you  promise  to  keep  strictly 
to  yourself  what  I  write  on  such  subjects,  I  will  tell  you 
that,  as  a  scientific  European  feels  when  he  arrives  in 
the  United  States,  so  does  a  man  feel  when  he  goes 
from  the  North  to  the  South.  The  people  seem  to  be 
fine,  open-hearted;  in  fact,  I  have  become  acquainted 
with  some  who  made  a  most  excellent  impression.  As 
for  the  rest,  it  is  far,  far  behind  the  North,  and  my  wife 
and  myself  are  homesick  for  the  North. 


72  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

"  Pray,  write  me  what  you  pick  up  in  regard  to  sci 
ence,  for  we  live  in  an  absolute  desert  here.  Surely, 
forever  I  could  not  live  so;  I  would  rather  go  to  Ala 
bama  and  become  a  planter,  make  a  competency  in  five 
years,  and  then  become  a  writer."  l 

The  same  longing  for  the  North  is  found  in  a  letter 
to  Mittermaier,  May  13,  1841  :  "  You  can  scarcely  imag 
ine  with  what  longing  I  look  for  the  arrival  of  a  vessel 
which  is  to  bring  me  new  publications  from  Europe, 
for  you  can  have  no  conception  how  a  man  in  my  situa 
tion  feels.  I  live  at  the  South,  it  is  true,  but  with 
respect  to  culture  and  intellectual  life,  and  all  a  man 
requires  who  takes  part  in  the  stirring  movements  of 
our  times,  I  might  as  well  be  in  Siberia.  There  is  no 
use  in  deluding  myself,  nor  have  I  the  disposition  to  do 
so.  If  Herder  complained  of  a  disappointed  life,  oh, 
how  much  greater  reason  have  I  to  despair !  Not  that 
I  would  compare  my  gifts  of  mind  with  his,  but  some 
thing  exists  within  me  which  strives  for  improvement 
and  development,  and  stands  in  need  of  its  element  as 
much,  in  proportion,  as  the  soul  of  a  Descartes  or  a 
Mozart.  A  little  while  since,  I  had  some  hope  that  an 
opportunity  might  offer  for  my  return  to  the  North.  I 
had  some  expectations ;  but,  at  present,  I  have  no 
prospects  whatever  in  view,  and  so  I  am  drying  up  and 
even  losing  energy." 

No   student   can    read    Lieber's    yearnings    to   leave 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  109. 


HIS   SOUTHERN    EXILE  73 

the  South  without  sympathizing  with  him  in  his  exile. 
During  a  brief  visit  to  Germany  in  1844,  he  wrote  to 
his  wife :  "  Is  there  no  escape  from  Columbia  ?  Many 
would  say,  Why  not  go  to  Prussia?  Why  not  take  a 
professorship  ?  I  answer,  the  inexperienced  or  uncon- 
scientious  only  can  enter  into  such  situations  which 
they  know  will  expose  them  to  a  constant  inner  con 
test.  The  whole  present  tendency  in  Prussia  is  a 
most  melancholy  one.  It  is  at  war  with  everything 
noble  in  our  time,  and  must,  therefore,  become  worse 
and  worse.  You  see  that  only  an  employment  of  a 
very  peculiar  kind  would  suit  my  soul,  and  even  then 
I  know  I  shall  always  have  grave  days.  Boston,  I 
say,  God  grant  me  Boston." 

He  was  opposed  in  the  South  on  account  of  his 
attitude  on  the  slavery  question,  and  this  frequently 
caused  him  to  pour  forth  bitter  laments.  In  1847,  he 
wrote  from  Philadelphia  to  his  wife:  "As  to  the 
accusation  in  regard  to  the  slave  question,  I  am  not 
sorry;  for  I  have  often  thought  that  I  should  be  glad 
if  pressed  out  of  my  chair,  so  that  I  need  not  after 
ward  reproach  myself  with  having  carelessly  abandoned 
a  good  place,  and  led  my  dear  wife  and  children  into 
want.  I  shall  write  them  a  substantial  answer  on  my 
return,  which  you  shall  read.  I  wish  to  do  nothing 
without  calm  consultation  with  my  good  wife.  I  say, 
away,  away  from  South  Carolina,  and  I  should  sup 
port  you,  anyhow."  Lieber  was  also  greatly  annoyed 


74  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

by  the  attacks  of  the  South  Carolina  Calvinists  upon 
his  religious  views,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  often 
exclaimed :  "  Take  me  away  from  this  land  where  the 
skies  are  so  blue  and  the  negroes  so  black ! " 

The  association  of  friends  who  tried  to  remove  him 
to  the  North,  he  called  the  Lieber  Emancipation  Soci 
ety.  He  finally  declared  to  his  friends  in  Boston, 
that  he  could  no  longer  remain  in  the  South,  and  that 
he  should  return  to  Germany,  if  no  acceptable  offer 
were  made  to  him  from  the  North.  In  July,  1845, 
an  effort  was  made  to  establish  a  new  professorship 
for  him  in  the  Law  School  of  Harvard  University. 
Judge  Story  was  at  the  head  of  the  movement.  The 
Trustees  of  the  University  reported  that  the  funds  would 
soon  be  sufficient  to  establish  a  chair  of  history,  as  some 
wealthy  citizens  had  promised  their  assistance.  Judge 
Story  died  in  September,  1845,  and  Lieber  lost  a  dear 
friend  to  whose  influence  he  owed  so  much.  This 
sad  event  destroyed  the  whole  plan,  and  Lieber  was 
compelled  to  give  up  the  idea  of  returning  to  the 
North.  When  William  Preston  wrote  home  from  the 
North,  "  They  cannot  understand  here  how  we  keep 
Lieber  in  our  parts,"  Lieber  said,  "  The  matter  is 
very  simple ;  because  they  give  me  the  means  to 
support  my  family." 

On  November  29,  1854,  Dr.  James  H.  Thorn  well 
resigned  the  presidency  of  the  College,  to  take  effect 
in  December,  1855.  Although  Lieber  was  tired  of 


THE   COLLEGE   PRESIDENCY  75 

his  Southern  exile,  he  desired  the  vacant  position  on 
account  of  the  prominence  it  would  give  him.  As 
the  College  was  a  state  institution,  an  election  of 
president  attracted  widespread  attention  and  became 
a  political  issue.  Lieber  now  acquired  a  notoriety 
that  was  distasteful  to  him.  The  newspapers  took 
sides  in  the  contest,  and  he  was  treated  as  an  ordi 
nary  candidate  for  public  office.  The  first  editor  to 
nominate  him  was  a  former  Methodist  preacher,  while 
all  the  up-country  papers  favored  him  with  the  great 
est  zeal.  The  low-country  papers  were  against  him, 
as  that  region  was  the  seat  of  the  anti-national  feel 
ing.  Many  of  his  supporters  were  former  students, 
and  he  was  delighted  with  the  spontaneous  movement 
in  his  behalf.  Although  the  people  admired  Lieber's 
abilities,  they  remembered  his  bold  utterances  against 
secession  in  1851,  and  no  general  support  could  be 
rallied  in  his  favor.  He  had  also  offended  the  Presby 
terians,  charging  them  with  using  the  weapon  of  hatred, 
instead  of  love,  truth,  and  the  gospel.  He  shrank  from 
the  idea  of  future  punishment,  and  called  know-nothing- 
ism  "  a  child  of  Calvinistic  bitterness."  At  first,  a 
majority  of  the  Trustees  were  in  his  favor,  and  the 
alumni  insisted  on  his  election,  but  his  "  Union  "  letter, 
and  religious  views  carried  the  day  against  him.  Dr. 
Thornwell,  the  retiring  president,  urged  another  pro 
fessor,  Dr.  C.  F.  McCay,  a  Presbyterian,  who  had  been 
in  the  College  only  a  year,  with  the  hope  of  defeating 


76  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

both  and  naming  a  new  man.  Lieber  stood  at  the  head 
for  several  ballots,  when  to  the  surprise  of  Dr.  Thorn- 
well,  Professor  McCay  was  elected.  His  administration 
proved  an  absolute  failure,  and  in  1857,  he  was  com- 
pelled  to  resign.  On  his  defeat,  Lieber  at  once  resigned 
his  professorship  to  take  effect  in  December,  1856.  He 
gave  as  his  reason  for  this  step,  "  not  that  I  have  been 
passed  over,  although  a  large  number  of  Trustees  voted 
for  me,  and  for  several  ballotings  I  stood  at  the  head ; 
but  because  a  professor,  unknown  to  the  Trustees,  and 
utterly  incapable  of  ruling  this  institution,  has  been 
elected,  and  because  the  College  will  go  to  ruin."  He 
claimed  that  he  was  too  old  to  play  the  College  consta 
ble  for  another  man,  and  spoke  of  himself  as  a  "  prome 
nading  "  workman.  His  resignation  was  accepted  by 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  in  December, 
1856,  when  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted:  — 

"  Whereas,  The  resignation  of  Dr.  Lieber  has  been  accepted  by  this 
Board  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Trustees  have  a  full  appreciation  of  the 
eminent  learning  and  just  reputation  of  Dr.  Lieber. 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  tender  to  Dr.  Lieber  their  hearty  and  sin 
cere  good  wishes  for  his  future  welfare  and  prosperity." 

The  alumni  of  the  College  presented  him  with  two 
massive  silver  vessels,  as  a  token  of  their  esteem,  and 
adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  which  were  conveyed 
to  him  by  a  committee  consisting  of  William  C.  Preston, 
Governor  Manning,  James  L.  Petigru,  Richard  Yeadon, 


RESIGNS   HIS   PROFESSORSHIP  77 

and  Joseph  B.  Allston.  In  referring  to  the  resignation, 
Dr.  la  Borde,  the  historian  of  the  College,  pays  the 
following  beautiful  tribute :  "  I  have  but  a  single  addi 
tional  remark  to  make.  He  must  take  his  place  as  a 
star  of  the  first  magnitude.  In  all  future  time,  the 
State  will  regard  his  name  as  one  of  the  brightest  and 
most  illustrious  on  the  roll  of  the  Faculty.  That  he 
honored  her  cherished  Institution,  that  he  spread  her 
fame  to  distant  lands,  and  contributed  in  large  measure 
to  her  exaltation  and  glory,  none  will  question.  He 
will  live  forever  in  her  history,  and  never,  never,  will 
it  be  forgotten  that  her  chosen  temples  of  learning 
were  adorned  by  his  ministrations,  and  that  he  de 
voted  the  best  portion  of  his  life  to  her  service  and 
honor." 

!  On  January  7,  1857,  Lieber  and  his  family  took  final 
leave  of  South  Carolina,  and  settled  in  New  York  City. 
He  had  spent  more  than  twenty  years  in  his  Southern 
exile,  but  they  were  years  of  great  productiveness,  and 
he  came  to  the  North  with  the  laurels  of  scholarship, 
while  his  writings  had  extended  his  fame  even  to 
foreign  lands. 

During  his  relations  with  South  Carolina  College, 
Lieber  applied  himself  closely  to  his  duties,  while  most 
of  his  leisure  time  was  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  his 
three  great  works.  Besides  these,  he  wrote  a  great 
many  essays  on  various  subjects,  which  have  been 
republished  in  his  "  Miscellaneous  Writings."  He  also 


78  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

made  an  occasional  tour  to  the  North  in  order  to  break 
the  monotony  of  life  in  his  Southern  exile. 

He  often  longed  for  Europe,  for  science  and  for  art, 
and  on  March  18,  1844,  he  sailed  from  New  York  on 
a  visit  to  the  fatherland.  On  account  of  his  absence 
from  Prussia,  he  was  excluded  from  the  general  pardon 
extended  to  all  political  offenders  at  the  time  of 
William's  coronation.  In  1841,  he  sent  a  petition  to 
the  king,  making  application  for  a  pardon.  This  was 
granted  in  1842,  and  Lieber  was  given  permission  to  re 
turn  to  Prussia.  In  his  tour  abroad,  he  passed  through 
England,  and  was  delighted  to  find  his  "  Political 
Ethics  "  in  use.  He  dined  with  de  Tocqueville  at  Brus 
sels  ;  travelled  to  the  Waterloo  battlefield,  and  found 
the  spot  where  he  had  been  wounded.  Toward  the 
end  of  July  he  hastened  on  to  Berlin.  He  had  a  long 
talk  with  the  king,  who  began  by  saying :  "  I  am  very 
sorry  that  you  are  going  away  again.  I  thought  that 
we  might  be  able  to  keep  you  here.  It  is  a  great  pity." 
In  his  diary,  Lieber  describes  the  king  as  a  polite  man 
with  small  blue  eyes  and  thin  sandy  hair.  He  was 
greatly  interested  in  American  affairs,  and  made  care 
ful  inquiries  into  our  penitentiary  system.  Lieber 
recommended  to  him  the  appointment  of  inspectors- 
general  of  prisons,  with  the  duty  to  lecture  in  the  uni 
versities  on  penology.  The  king  expressed  a  wish  to 
appoint  him  a  prison  inspector,  with  a  definite  sum 
to  defray  the  expense  of  moving,  and  thirteen  hundred 


VISITS   EUROPE  79 

thalers  for  a  position  in  the  Department  of  Justice,  with 
permission  to  lecture  in  the  University  on  penology. 
On  his  refusal  of  the  offer,  the  king  exclaimed :  "  Has 
Prussia  so  deeply  offended  you  that  you  cannot  for 
give  ? "  Lieber  spent  some  time  also  in  Alsace  and 
Baden,  where  he  saw  women  ploughing.  The  same 
sight  had  often  made  him  sad  in  South  Carolina,  where 
he  saw  negro  women  do  this  kind  of  work.  In  January, 
1845,  he  returned  to  America,  and  resumed  his  College 
work.  Shortly  after  his  return,  he  received  another 
invitation  to  enter  the  Prussian  service,  and  to  give 
lectures  in  the  University  of  Berlin,  but  the  offer  was 
declined. 

Lieber's  interest  was  aroused  by  the  revolutionary 
movements  in  Europe  in  1848,  and  in  June  of  that 
year  he  once  more  started  abroad.  In  February,  1848, 
Louis  Philippe  was  driven  from  the  throne,  and  France 
was  declared  a  republic.  This  event  increased  the 
political  ferment  in  Germany  which  had  been  grow 
ing  for  more  than  thirty  years.  In  March,  a  general 
movement  began  in  the  smaller  German  states  in  the 
west,  demanding  freer  constitutions  and  popular  re 
forms.  The  revolution  spread  with  great  rapidity,  and 
the  patriotic  party  made  a  demand  for  national  unity, 
with  a  representation  of  the  people  in  the  Diet  of  the 
confederation.  The  king  promised  to  strive  for  Ger 
man  unity,  and  a  national  assembly  was  proposed. 
But  the  revolutionary  party  was  impatient  for  a  sud- 


8o  FRANCIS   LIBBER 

1^ 

den  change.  There  were  serious  outbreaks  in  a  num 
ber  of  towns,  and  the  riots  became  alarming  in  Berlin, 
Frankfort,  Dresden,  Baden,  and  the  Palatinate.  When 
the  news  of  this  popular  uprising  Beached  Lieber,  he 
was  unable  to  continue  his  lecture  in  the  College. 
He  said :  "  My  young  friends,  I  am  unfit  for  you  this 
afternoon.  News  has  arrived  that  Germany,  too,  is 
rising,  and  my  heart  is  full  to  overflowing.  I  — " 
"  but  I  felt  choked.  I  pointed  toward  the  door.  The 
students  left  it,  —  gave  a  hearty  cheer  for  old  Germany. 
I  hurried  home  and  fell  on  my  bed,  and  cried  like  a 
child,  —  no,  far  more,  like  a  man."_  He  reached  Bre 
men  on  July  7,  1848,  after  a  trip  of  thirteen  days  from 
New  York.  At  Frankfort  he  dined  with  Mittermaier, 
Von  Mohl,  Wurm,  and  Burgermeister  Schmidt.  At 
Heidelberg  there  was  a  large  mass  meeting,  and  the 
Republic  was  openly  spoken  of,  but  it  was  always  the 
French  Republic.  He  realized  the  difficulty  of  a  revo 
lution  in  Germany,  and  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  while 
abroad,  he  predicted  that  blood  would  flow ;  that  there 
would  be  a  real  civil  war  in  order  to  effect  German 
unity  and  overthrow  the  princes.  He  saw  on  all  sides 
an  inconceivable  ignorance  in  everything  that  pertained 
to  civil  liberty ;  there  was  no  experience,  and  the  de 
bates  showed  the  want  of  all  comprehension.  He 
said :  "  There  is  all  the  time  a  state  which  I  should 
designate  as  a  brewing  tempest,  but  the  storm  is  ready 
in  any  moment  to  break  forth."  Lieber  returned  to 


VISITS   EUROPE  8 1 

America  in  September,  1848,  and  on  reaching  home, 
he  once  more  resumed  his  duties  in  the  College.  His 
interest  in  the  struggle  continued,  as  his  son,  Oscar, 
a  student  at  Freiburg,  took  part  in  the  riots  against 
the  princes  at  Dresden,  in  the  spring  of  1849.  After 
spending  four  days  and  nights  in  the  barricades,  the 
young  man  came  out  of  the  struggle  without  injury, 
and  Lieber  wrote :  "  His  coat  was  riddled,  his  pow 
der-flask  perforated,  his  hat  shot  into;  but  God  has 
protected  the  ardent  lad." 

The  events  of  1848  in  Europe  made  a  deep  impres 
sion  on  Lieber's  mind,  as  may  be  seen  upon  examin 
ing  the  frequent  references  in  his  "Civil  Liberty  and 
Self-Government." 


THE    CALL    TO    COLUMBIA    COLLEGE    IN    THE    CITY    OF    NEW 
YORK LIFE    IN    THE    NORTH 

T  lEBER'S  name  had  been  favorably  known  to  the 
JL/  authorities  of  Columbia  College  for  a  number 
of  years.  His  address  at  the  meeting  held  in  1831  to 
consider  the  founding  of  the  University  of  the  City  of 
New  York  gave  him  a  reputation  on  academic  questions. 
This  movement  alarmed  the  friends  of  Columbia  Col 
lege,  and  its  Trustees  were  at  once  aroused  to  greater 
activity.  While  the  authorities  of  the  College  had 
always  exerted  themselves  to  make  the  course  a  good 
one,  they  were  stirred  to  unusual  efforts  by  the  founding 
of  the  University.  The  first  steps  taken  were  to  make 
important  changes  in  the  College  curriculum.  While 
the  existing  course  of  study  was  preserved  entire  as  the 
Full  Course,  another  was  adopted,  which  was  called  the 
Scientific  and  Literary  Course.  This  course  was  not 
much  of  a  success,  and  it  seemed  to  be  in  advance  of 
the  time.  Nothing  very  effective,  however,  could  be 
done,  because  the  money  necessary  was  not  in  hand. 
Further  changes  were  contemplated  in  1853,  when  com 
mercial  activity  made  it  necessary  to  remove  the  institu- 

82 


PLANS   FOR   COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY  83 

tion  from  College  Place.  On  October  3  of  this  year, 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  removal  of 
the  College.  A  preliminary  report  was  made  in  Novem 
ber,  1853,  recommending  the  proposed  change  in  loca 
tion,  and  on  July  24,  1854,  the  committee  made  its  full 
report  to  the  Trustees.  In  1857,  a  new  site  for  the 
College  was  purchased  in  the  section  bounded  by  Forty- 
ninth  and  Fiftieth  Streets,  and  Fourth  and  Madison 
Avenues.  The  development  of  the  plan  for  enlarging 
the  scope  of  instruction  went  on  with  that  for  the 
change  of  location.  As  early  as  1853,  Lieber  was 
requested  by  President  King  to  give  his  views  regard 
ing  a  university  in  New  York.  Nothing  definite  was 
accomplished  until  September  10,  1856,  when  a  com 
mittee  was  appointed  to  consider  the  reorganization  of 
the  courses  of  instruction.  On  January  12,  1857,  the 
Trustees  directed  the  committee  "  to  bring  in  the  full 
statute  to  comprehend  the  whole  scheme  of  College 
and  University  instruction  comprehended  by  their 
former  report."1  The  committee  made  a  final  report 
on  March  2,  1857,  after  consulting  the  members  of  the 
Faculty  and  seeking  the  advice  of  prominent  educators 
in  various  parts  of  the  country.  In  September,  1856, 
Lieber  was  asked  to  give  his  opinion  on  the  proposed 
grammar  school,  the  organization  of  undergraduate 

1  Addresses  of  the  Newly  appointed  Professors  of  Columbia  College,  with 
an  Introductory  Address  by  William  Betts,  LL.D.,  February,  1^858.  New 
York:  By  authority  of  the  Trustees,  1858. 


84  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

courses,  and  on  post-graduate  courses  in  the  College.  ( 
As  to  the  appointment  of  professors,  Lieber  wrote: 
"  All  college  appointments  of  a  higher  kind  in  this 
country  ought  to  be  made  by  a  standing  committee 
of  three,  elected  say,  for  three  or  four  years  —  the 
appointments  to  be  confirmed  by  the  Board.  The 
committee  ought  always  to  propose  their  candidate 
with  a  written  report  containing  the  reasons  of  appoint 
ment."  He  also  urged  that  non-resident  professors  be 
engaged  to  deliver  courses  of  lectures.  In  regard  to 
controverted  questions,  whether  religious,  moral,  politi 
cal,  or  scientific,  Lieber  claimed  that  the  highest 
freedom  of  thought  ought  to  be  permitted.  Within  a 
year,  the  plan  had  matured  in  his  mind,  and  in  Feb 
ruary,  1857,  he  made  additional  suggestions  to  the  com 
mittee,  ^vhich,  on  account  of  their  comprehensive  scope 
are  given  in  full :  — 

SUGGESTIONS  ON  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 

"i.  It  seems  more  important  to  begin  the  Univer 
sity  at  once,  although  on  a  limited  scale,  than  to  wait 
until  a  fully  organized  institution  can  be  called  into 
existence.  Four  professors,  say  one  of  languages  or 
literature,  one  of  history  and  political  sciences,  and 
two  for  the  natural  sciences  would  seem  sufficient  to 
make  a  beginning.  Growth  and  organic  expansion 
have  formed  the  strength  and  health  of  the  greatest 
institutions  of  learning  and  of  charity. 


PLANS    FOR   COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY  85 

"  2.  The  principle  of  fees  for  admission  to  the  dif 
ferent  courses  ought  to  be  adopted  at  once.  It  is  of 
great  importance  to  the  students  as  well  as  for  the 
professors  —  so  important,  indeed,  that  I  consider  it, 
under  all  circumstances,  essential  to  success. 

"  3.  There  ought  to  be  three  classes  of  professors, 
viz. : — 

"  a.    Full,  or  ordinary  professors,  residing  in  the  city. 

"  d.  Professors  appointed  to  teach  a  single  course 
each  term  —  persons  eminent  in  some  specialty,  or 
following  some  profession,  residing  in  this  city.  The 
salary  .ought  to  be  proportionately  less.  The  talent 
collected  in  so  large  a  place  as  New  York  ought  to 
be  utilized  as  much  as  possible  by  an  institution 
intended  for  the  cultivation  and  diffusion  of  knowl 
edge. 

"  c.  Occasional  lecturers  invited  to  deliver  a  course, 
or  persons  at  a  distance,  but  periodically  repairing  to 
New  York  to  deliver  a  certain  course  of  lectures.  Our 
railways  enable  us  to  carry  out  the  principle  of  multi 
plying  the  usefulness  of  a  public  teacher,  adopted  as 
early  as  under  Trajan,  in  a  far  more  effectual  way. 

"4.  The  professors  designated  under  a,  and  so 
much  of  c  as  may  be  especially  appointed  by  the 
Trustees,  to  form  the  University  Senate  —  at  least  for 
the  present.  They  elect,  from  among  themselves,  a 
dean  for  a  limited  term,  say  for  two  years.  The  dean 
is  the  connecting  link  between  the  Senate  and  the 


86  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

Trustees,  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate,  and  the 
executive  officer  of  the  University. 

"  5.  Whenever  the  University  shall  have  sufficiently 
expanded  to  form  separate  Faculties,  such  as  a  Fac 
ulty  of  law  or  jurisprudence,  of  philosophy  and  ethi 
cal  branches,  of  natural  sciences,  etc.,  then  each 
Faculty  shall  elect  its  own  dean ;  and  the  Faculties 
united  shall  form  the  Senate,  which  shall  elect  its  own 
chancellor  from  among  its  own  members  for  a  limited 
term  —  the  chancellor  (or  rector)  to  be  the  connecting 
link  between  the  University  and  the  Trustees. 

"  6.  After  the  first  four  professors  have  been  ap 
pointed  by  the  Trustees,  the  Senate  ought  to  have 
the  exclusive  right  to  nominate  professors  for  new 
professorships  and  for  all  vacated  chairs,  and  the  duty 
to  accompany  their  nomination  with  a  report  to  the 
Trustees  stating  the  reasons  why  the  nominations 
have  been  made.  So  soon  as  there  will  be  different 
Faculties,  each  Faculty  shall  have  the  duty  to  pro 
pose  to  the  Senate  for  nomination  persons  to  fill 
chairs  belonging  to  that  particular  Faculty.  The  Sen 
ate  will  then  make  the  nomination  to  the  Trustees. 

"  7.  The  Board  of  Trustees  will  establish  no  new 
chair,  after  the  foundation  of  the  first  four  chairs, 
without  first  obtaining  the  opinion  of  the  Senate. 

"8.  Every  person,  whether  a  graduate  of  any  col 
lege  or  not,  shall  have  the  right  to  attend  any  course 
of  lectures  for  the  common  fees  of  admission,  and 


PLANS   FOR   COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY  87 

some  courses  ought  always  to  be  delivered  at  such 
hours  of  the  day  as  to  make  it  possible  for  persons 
engaged  in  the  various  pursuits  of  life  to  attend  them. 
Merchants,  engineers,  theological  students,  teachers, 
lawyers,  manufacturers,  agriculturists  (during  the  win 
ter  months),  navigators,  mechanics,  etc.,  ought  thus 
to  have  the  opportunity  of  profiting  by  the  liberal 
diffusion  of  knowledge  provided  for  by  the  Univer 
sity. 

"9.  Nevertheless,  there  shall  be  regularly  matricu 
lated  students,  who,  after  having  attended  certain 
prescribed  courses,  and  having  duly  passed  certain 
prescribed  examinations,  shall  receive  degrees  and 
diplomas,  bestowed  by  the  Senate. 

"10.  A  University  building,  in  an  accessible  part 
of  the  city,  would  be  of  great  convenience,  but  it  is 
not  indispensably  necessary.  There  are  many  universi 
ties  of  renown  in  Europe  without  University  buildings. 
In  order  to  make  a  beginning  without  delay,  a  con 
venient  house  might  be  readily  hired  or  bought.  It 
would  not  even  be  necessary  that  all  University  lectures 
should  be  delivered  in  this  house ;  a  professor  of  chem 
istry,  for  instance,  or  a  professor  of  the  fine  arts,  might 
find  it  convenient  to  lecture  in  other  places.  The 
Senate,  or  the  Senate  and  Trustees,  would  be  the 
proper  authorities  to  regulate  this  matter. 

"n.  College  professors  may  be,  but  need  not  neces 
sarily  be,  University  professors. 


88  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

"  1 2.  Annual  prize  questions  ought  to  be  established ; 
a,  for  matriculated  students ;  b,  for  competitors  at  large 
in  the  United  States  and  out  of  them. 

"13.  The  Senate  should  have  the  right  to  grant, 
to  persons  properly  qualified,  permission  to  deliver 
courses  of  lectures  in  the  University.  These  licentiates 
will  have  no  salary,  but  shall  receive  the  fixed  fees  of 
admission  to  their  own  lectures.  The  Senate  shall  give 
the  license  to  lecture  on  certain  and  distinctly  stated 
branches  only.  The  Senate  can  annul  the  license  at 
any  time ;  nor  shall  it  be  given  for  a  longer  period  than 
five  years,  after  which  it  may  be  renewed.  The  pro 
posed  delivery  of  lectures  by  licentiates  is  to  be  pub 
lished  with  the  intended  lectures  of  the  professors, 
previous  to  the  beginning  of  each  semi-annual  term. 
The  licentiates  would  correspond  to  the  private  docents 
of  the  German  universities,  where  they  have  been  found 
of  great  use.  The  appointment  of  private  docents  grew 
out  of  the  privilege  of  lecturing,  which  the  degree  con 
ferred  upon  every  graduate  in  the  early  universities; 
indeed,  this  was  the  early  meaning  of  the  degree 
A.M." 

- 
While  the  time  had  not  yet  arrived  for  the  adoption 

of  so  broad  a  scheme  as  that  which  Lieber  proposed, 
an  important  step  was  taken  in  this  direction.  At  first, 
delays  arose  in  finding  proper  accommodations  for  the 
College,  but  when  the  removal  was  completed,  it  became 


PLANS   FOR   COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY  89 

possible  to  carry  out  the  plan  suggested  by  the  com 
mittee.  This  plan  contemplated  the  retaining  of  the 
Classical  Course  for  three  years,  and  the  establishment 
of  a  Scientific  Course  to  occupy  three  years.  These 
two  courses  were  to  meet  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Senior  year,  and  the  students  were  to  be  prepared  to 
undertake  any  of  the  studies  to  be  thereafter  taught. 
Three  schools,  namely;  of  philosophy  or  philology,  of 
jurisprudence  and  history,  and  of  mathematics  and 
physical  science  were  to  be  organized,  into  which  the 
students  were  to  enter  at  the  beginning  of  the  Senior 
year ;  and  at  the  end  of  that  year,  those  who  had  pur 
sued  the  Classical  Course  were  to  receive  the  degree 
of  bachelor  of  arts,  and  those  who  had  pursued  the 
Scientific  Course,  that  of  bachelor  of  science.  The 
studies  of  these  schools  were  not  to  end  with  the  first 
degree,  but  were  to  continue  two  years  longer,  forming 
what  was  to  be  called  the  Post-Graduate  Course.  In 
1857,  the  Senior  class  was  divided  into  the  schools  of 
letters,  jurisprudence,  and  science,  and  the  committee 
in  charge  of  the  subject  was  authorized  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  to  open  the  Post-Graduate  Course  of  instruc 
tion  on  the  first  Monday  of  December,  1858.  It  was 
also  resolved  to  add  several  professors  to  the  Faculty, 
and  the  following  appointments  were  made;  James 
D.  Dana,  professor  of  geology  and  natural  history; 
Arnold  Guyot,  professor  of  physical  geography;  George 
P.  Marsh,  professor  of  the  English  language,  and  T. 


QO  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

W.  Dwight,  professor  of  law.1  The  chairs,  held  by 
Professors  McVickar,  McCulloch,  and  Hackley,  were 
divided  on  account  of  the  arduous  duties  connected 
/therewith.  I  At  the  same  time,  the  new  chair  of  history 
and  political  science  was  created,  to  which  Lieber  was 
called  on  May  18,  1857.  He  received  an  immense 
number  of  congratulations,  and  North  and  South  alike 
spoke  highly  of  the  appointment.  He  was  proud  of 
the  honor  conferred  upon  him,  and  wrote  to  Hamilton 
Fish,  one  of  the  Trustees,  suggesting  that  he  make  a 
motion  to  have  the  chair  called  the  chair  of  history 
and  political  science.  Lieber  added  that  he  desired 
to  write  to  de  Tocqueville,  and  tell  him  that  he  had 
been  made  professor  of  the  greatest  branches  in  the 
greatest  city  of  the  greatest  union  —  that  of  history 
and  political  science.  To  Hillard,  he  expressed  his 
gratification  as  follows :  "  Yesterday  your  fat  fogy  of 
a  friend  was  unanimously  elected  professor  of  history 
and  political  science  in  Columbia  College  and  for  the 
University  Course.  It  is  pleasing  to  remember  that 
both  times  when  chairs  were  given  to  me,  it  was  done 
unanimously  by  bodies  of  Trustees  consisting  of  some 
twenty-five  members." 

The  call  of  Lieber  to  Columbia  College  must  be 
regarded  as  an  important  event  in  American  educa 
tional  history,  and  Dr.  Herbert  B.  Adams  speaks  of 
it  as  "  the  first  recognition  by  a  Northern  college  of 

1  With  the  exception  of  Professor  Dwight,  these  were  temporary  appoint 
ments  as  lecturers. 


LIBBER'S  CALL  TO   COLUMBIA  91 

history  and  politics  as  properly  coordinated  sciences."1 
"  At  the  College  of  South  Carolina,"  Dr.  Adams  con 
tinues,  "  Lieber  had  taught  history,  political  economy, 
and  philosophy  as  a  homogeneous  group.  The  pres 
ence  of  the  latter  subject  in  his  professorship  betrays 
a  survival  of  the  old  scholastic  connection  of  meta 
physics  and  politics,  a  connection  which  lasted  long  at 
Harvard,  Columbia,  and  many  other  colleges.  It  was 
the  great  ambition  of  Lieber  to  associate  history  with 
the  political  sciences,  and  to  make  these  subjects  an 
independent  and  homogeneous  department." 

j  The  subjects  assigned  to  Lieber's  chair  were  modern  i 
history,  political  science,  international  law,  civil  and 
common  law.  The  Senior  class  took  modern  his 
tory,  political  philosophy  and  political  economy,  using 
as  texts  Weber's  "  Outlines  of  Universal  History,"  Lie 
ber's  "Civil  Liberty"  and  Say's  "Political  Economy." 
To  the  Junior  class,  he  gave  two  hours  a  week  through 
out  the  year  on  mediaeval  history,  while  the  Sophomores 
had  Roman  history,  from  Wilson's  "  Outlines,"  down  to 
the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire.  The  Freshman  class 
used  the  same  text-book  and  were  taught  the  history  of 
Greece  down  to  146  B.C.2  No  one  but  a  man  endowed 

with  Lieber's  capacity  for  work  would  have  been  able 

~*e 

1  "  The  Study   of  History  in   American  Colleges    and   Universities,"   bj 
Herbert  B.  Adams,  Ph.D.  Washington :  Government  Printing  Office,  1887. 

2  For  a  full  account  of  Lieber's  methods  of  teaching,  see  Chapter  VI ;  see 
also  his  remarks  on  Studies  in  Appendix. 


F 


92  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

to  carry  a  burden  like  this.     Physically  robust,  and  pos 
sessing  a  genuine  enthusiasm  for  his  subject,  his  life 
was  crowded  with  industry,  both  in  the   lecture-room 
>  ."S  and  in  other  departments.     Learning  history  from  one 

of  the  chief  authorities  of  the  century,  his  work  assumed 

J 

the  highest  character.  One  of  his  colleagues  at  Co- 
lumbia  College,  Prof.  J.  H.  Van  Amringe,  writes::  "I  can 
personally  testify  that  his  work  had  a  very  great  influ 
ence  in  broadening  the  views  of  the  students  who  came 
under  him,  and  in  making  them  understand  the  affairs 
of  the  world,  and  the  genesis  and  bearing  of  historical 
truths  anywhere  enunciated  or  exemplified." 

With  his  College  duties,  his  extensive  correspondence, 
his  intimate  relations  with  public  men,  and  the  approach 
of  the  Civil  War,  Lieber's  career  in  the  North  became 
one  of  intense  activity.  He  had  intended  to  spend  the 
summer  vacation  of  1861  in  Europe,  but  he  abandoned 
the  trip,  feeling  that  he  would  be  worried  by  constant 
,  -talk  about  the  Rebellion.  His  position  as  a  professor 
of  public  and  international  law  brought  him  into  much 
prominence  during  this  period.  \  His  advice  was  con 
stantly  sought  by  Sumner,  Garfield, 


and  other  leading  statesmen,  and  he  was  quoted  as  an 
authority  on  the  many  leading  questions  that  arose 
during  the  War.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Loyal  Publication  Society,  which  distributed  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  pamphlets,  ten  bearing  the  name 
of  "  Francis  Lieber."  The  War  Department  at  Wash- 


REACTION   IN   HIS  DEPARTMENT 


93 


ington  also  recognized  his  abilities,  and,  in  1862,  at  the 
request  of  General  Halleck,  he  prepared  his  work  on 
"  Guerrilla  Parties  Considered  in  Reference  to  the  Laws 
and  Usages  of  War."  In  1863,  at  the  instance  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  he  wrote  "  Instructions  for  the  Govern 
ment  of  Armies  of  the  United  States  in  the  Field,"  which 
was  published  by  the  War  Department  as  General 
Orders,  No.  100.  !  Both  of  these  works  are  discussed 
at  length  in  the  chapter  on  Military  Law. 

In  the  meantime,  a  number  of  changes  in  the  work 
of  the  College  were  under  consideration.  The  gradu 
ate  department  established  in  1857,  was  abolished  the 
next  year.  It  appears  that  the  time  had  not  yet  ar 
rived  for  so  broad  a  scheme  of  advanced  work.  A 

s 

more  serious  reaction  occurred  in  1865,  as  a  result  of 
the  suggestions  in  President  Barnard's  annual  report. 
This  report  contained  the  following  recommendations: 
"  All  the  subjects  embraced  in  the  two  departments 
of  philosophy  and  English,  and  of  history  and  politi 
cal  science,  might  be  better  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
single  instructor,  with  a  tutor  to  assist  him,  than  be 
disposed  of  as  at  present.  It  is  quite  doubtful,  in  the 
view  of  the  undersigned,  whether  modern  history,  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  ought  to  occupy  any 
considerable  space  in  the  teaching  of  our  colleges. 
The  subject  is  too  vast,  and  practically  so  exhaustless, 
that  the  little  which  can  be  taught  in  the  few  hours 
of  class  instruction  (if  that  is  all  the  learner  ever 


94  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

knows)  amounts  to  but  a  small  remove  from  absolute 
ignorance.  There  are  certain  large  outlines  that  can 
be  sketched  boldly  out;  but  that  being  done,  the  in 
structor  will  much  more  profitably  employ  himself  in 
furnishing  the  student  with  something  of  the  bibli 
ography  of  history  —  in  giving  him,  in  short,  a  guide 
for  his  private  reading  —  than  in  attempting  any  detail 
of  the  growth  and  decline  of  particular  peoples,  or  the 
rise  and  fall  of  particular  empires." 

Acting  on  these  suggestions,  the  Trustees  on  July 
6,  1865,  abolished  the  chair  of  history  and  political 
science  in  the  College,  and  the  department  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  professor  of  philosophy  and  English 
literature.  The  same  day,  Lieber  was  transferred  to 
the  Law  School,  and  made  professor  of  constitutional 
history  and  public  law,  where  he  remained  until  his 
death  in  1872. 

Lieber  was  disappointed  at  the  conservative  action 
of  the  College  authorities  in  1865,  and  he  expressed 
his  feelings  to  Dr.  Andrew  D.  White,  as  follows :  "  I 
have  spoken  much  of  the  necessity  of  teaching  history 

and  political  economy  in  colleges.     The  present  presi- 

* 

dent  of  Columbia  College  has  declared  the  former  too 
comprehensive,  and  the  latter  too  deep  a  science,  to 
be  taught  in  colleges;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  nine 
teenth  century  these  two  branches  have  been  abolished 

N^         v*  j 

in  Columbia   College !     It  was   done  at  a  time  when, 

y 

in    impoverished    Virginia,  immediately  after   her   sub- 


CAREER   IN   THE   LAW   SCHOOL 


95 


jection,  the  legislature  appropriated  some  money  for 
chairs  of  history  and  political  economy  in  the  College 
of  which  Lee  became  president.  It  cuts  me  to  the 
very  heart,  but  so  it  is.  Keep  this  in  mind,  and  let  it 
stir  you  and  incite  you  the  more  not  to  forget  these 
noble  and  necessary  branches  in  the  Cornell  College. 
Nowhere  is  it  so  necessary  to  hold  before  the  eyes  of 
young  men  a  mirror  of  the  sacredness  and  gravity  of 
political  duties  or  the  obligation  of  a  citizen,  as  in  a 
country  in  which  his  rights  and  privileges  are  almost 
unlimited."  ; 

Although  Lieber  was  naturally  disappointed  at  the 
set-back  that  his  work  received  from  President  Bar 
nard,  his  services  in  the  College  were  of  vast  impor 
tance,  as  the  later  development  of  the  graduate  and 
professional  schools  indicates.  There  seems  to  be  a 
close  parallel  between  the  ideas  of  1857,  and  those  of 
later  times,  as  far  as  history  and  political  science  are 
concerned.  1  Lieber's  connection  with  Columbia  College 
in  1857,  marked  an  epoch  in  the  scientific  teaching 
of  these  subjects,  and  another  epoch  was  begun  in 
1880,  when  the  Trustees  of  the  College  resolved  to 
.establish  a  school  of  political  science,  open  to  ad 
vanced  collegiate  students,  with  courses  leading  to 
the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy.  As  Lieber  had  *~ 
carried  German  ideas  into  Columbia  College  in  1857, 
these  ideas  continued  to  prevail  when  his  mantle  fell 
upon  his  successor,  Dr.  John  W.  Burgess,  who  had 


96  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

studied    history    and    political    science    with    the    late 
Professor  Droysen,  of  Berlin. 

With  Lieber's  advent  in  the  Law  School,  the  last 
period  of  his  academic  career  begins.  The  School 
was  organized  in  1858,  and  under  the  administration 
of  Dr.  T.  W.  Dwight  its  growth  was  rapid.  Many 
years  before  this  time,  Chancellor  Kent  had  delivered 
lectures  on  law  in  the  College,  but  after  a  brief 
period,  they  were  discontinued.  On  the  establish 
ment  of  the  Law  School,  Dr.  T.  W.  Dwight  was 
appointed  professor  of  municipal  law.  With  him 
were  associated  as  a  Faculty,  Professors  Lieber  and 
Nairne,  who  were  also  members  of  the  College  Fac 
ulty,  while  in  1860,  Dr.  John  Ordronaux  was  made 
professor  of  medical  jurisprudence.  On  Lieber's 
transfer  to  the  Law  School,  the  Trustees  outlined 
the  scope  of  his  work  by  a  resolution  of  October  9, 
1865.  He  was  required  to  deliver  one  lecture  weekly 
to  each  class  during  the  academic  year.  To  the 
Junior  class,  he  lectured  on  the  constitutional  his 
tory  of  England,  and  also  on  modern  political  history; 
while  his  lectures  to  the  Senior  class  included  the 
subjects  of  United  States  history  and  government.  No 
adequate  conception  of  the  nature  of  Lieber's  work  in 
the  Law  School  can  be  gained  from  the  above  state 
ment  of  his  courses.  *  -He  led  his  students  into  those 
chosen  fields  of  investigation  which  had  won  for  him 
a  reputation  throughout  the  world.  Professor  Van 


CAREER   IN   THE   LAW  SCHOOL  97 

Amringe  makes  the  following  statement  in  regard  to 
Lieber's  career  in  the  Law  School :  "  Professor  Lieber's 
connection  with  the  School  continued  until  his  death 
in  the  autumn  of  1872;  and  he  gave,  yearly,  a  course 
of  lectures  upon  those  special  subjects  in  which  he 
had  gained  great  distinction  for  his  learning,  origi 
nality,  and  independence  of  thought,  extensive  re 
search,  and  sound  judgment,  viz.,  '  The  History  of 
Political  Literature;'  'Political  Ethics;'  'The  Origin, 
Development,  Objects,  and  History  of  Political  So 
ciety;'  'Constitutional  Government,' etc."1  Since  Lie 
ber's  death,  his  place  was  temporarily  held  by  Hon. 
George  H.  Gusman,  Charles  W.  McLean,  and  Dr. 
John  W.  Burgess,  of  Amherst  College,  until  1876, 
when  the  chair  of  history,  political  science,  and 
international  law  was  created,  and  Dr.  Burgess  was 
elected  to  fill  it. 

^During  the  last  ten  years  of  his  career,  Lieber  took 
an  absorbing  interest  in  the  subject  of  International 
Law.  In  1860,  the  "scientific  clover-leaf"  was  formed 
with  Bluntschli  and  Laboulaye,  and  in  the  following 
years,  his  essays  on  International  Law  appeared.  He 
had  now  arisen  to  the  highest  dignity  as  a  publicist, 
his  ideal  being  to  form  a  permanent  alliance  of  the 
leading  international  jurists,  and  thus  prepare  the 
way  for  a  commonwealth  of  nations.  He  also  wrote 

1  "Historical  Sketch  of  Columbia  College,  from  1754  to  1876,"  by  Profes 
sor  J.  H.  Van  Amringe,  p.  84. 


98  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

many  letters  to  the  New  York  Evening  Post,  signed 
"  Americus,"  and  his  last  work  was  a  treatise  on  "  The 
Rise  of  the  Constitution,"  which  was  almost  ready  for 
the  press  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  1865,  the  Secretary  of  War  endeavored  to  secure 
an  appropriation  for  a  lecturer  on  the  Law  and  Usages 
of  War  on  Land,  at  West  Point.  The  plan  was  to  get 
the  appointment  for  Lieber  in  recognition  of  his  valuable 
services  during  the  War.  This  was  never  accomplished, 
but  he  was  afterward  appointed  to  classify  and  arrange 
the  Rebel  Archives  in  the  office  of  the  War  Department, 
and  he  was  engaged  in  this  work  for  several  months. 
i,  'His  knowledge  of  international  law  led  to  his  selection 
as  umpire  according  to  the  terms  of  the  Mexican  Con 
vention  for  Settling  Claims.  After  the  signature  of  the 
treaty  of  Guadalupe-Hidalgo  in  1848,  claims  and  com 
plaints  were  made  by  citizens  of  the  United'  States, 
on  account  of  injuries  to  their  persons  and  their  property 
by  authorities  of  Mexico,  and  similar  claims  and  com 
plaints  were  made  on  account  of  injuries  to  the  persons 
and  property  of  Mexican  citizens  by  the  authorities  of 
the  United  States.  By  a  convention,  July  4,  1868, 
between  the  two  nations,  it  was  agreed  to  refer  the 
settlement  of  the  claims  to  a  board  of  commissioners 
and  an  umpire.  The  deliberations  continued  from  July 
31,  1869,  to  November  20,  1876.  A  thousand  and 
seventeen  claims  were  presented  by  the  United  States, 
and  nine  hundred  and  ninety-eight  by  Mexico,  and 


OTHER  ACTIVITIES  99 

their  aggregate  amount  exceeded  half  a  billion  dollars. 
The  total  amount  allowed  was  about  four  millions. 
!The  appointment  of  umpire  was  reluctantly  accepted 
by  Lieber,  only  after  it  had  been  urged  upon  him  by 
Hon.  Hamilton  Fish  and  Mr.  Marescal,  the  Minister 
of  Mexico.  The  chief  characteristic  of  this  work  was 
the  admirable  decisions  of  the  umpire,  who  disposed  of 
each  case  by  the  one  rule  of  common  sense  and  justice. 
Lieber  had  contemplated  the  resignation  of  his  profes 
sorship  and  commission  on  May  i,  1872,  in  order  to 
visit  Europe.  But  the  Senate  confirmed  a  treaty  with 
Mexico,  which  extended  his  commission  as  umpire  until 
January,  i,  1873,  and  he  was  compelled  to  change  his 
plans.  This  was  his  last  important  work,  being  not  yet 
completed  at  his  death  in  October,  1872. 


VI 

LIEBER'S    VIEWS    ON    EDUCATION  —  HIS    POSITION    AS    A 

TEACHER 

I  IEBER  brought  with  him  to  America  a  high 
L-J  ideal  of  the  political  significance  of  educatiojn. 
He  had  seen  Germany,  humiliated  by  a  foreign  foe, 
depend  upon  the  schools  for  her  regeneration;  there 
fore,  he  looked  upon  education  as  one  of  the  chief 
interests  of  the  State,  and  his  writings  on  the  sub 
ject  attracted  general  attention.  In  1826,  he  wrote 
an  essay  on  the  Lancastrian  Schools,  first  published 
in  the  Literarische  Blatter  der  Borsen-Halle,  number 
122.  It  contains  an  intelligent  description  of  the 
Lancastrian  system  of  education, — according  to  which 
the  more  advanced  pupils  teach  the  others,  —  and 
an  earnest  appeal  in  behalf  of  its  introduction  into 
Germany.  His  views  on  the  subject  of  a  university 
in  New  York  City  have  been  referred  to  in  a  former 
chapter.  In  his  plan  for  the  organization  of  Girard 
College,  published  in  1834,  he  claimed  that  our  country 
stood  in  need  of  a  polytechnic  school.  In  Girard  Col 
lege,  he  would  have  the  youth  instructed  as  to  the 
political  character  of  man,  the  nature  of  our  institu- 

100 


VIEWS  ON   EDUCATION  IOI 

tions,  and  the  mechanism  of  nations ;  while  he  recom 
mended  mechanical  education  in  workshops.  The 
plan  made  provision  for  gymnastics  and  a  swimming 
school,  and  urged  scientific  singing  as  the  best  exer 
cise  for  the  development  of  the  chest.  The  branches 
to  be  taught  were  morals,  religion,  writing,  drawing, 
grammar,  literature,  mathematics,  pure  and  applied,  as 
tronomy,  architecture,  natural  sciences,  machine  build 
ing,  politics  and  history,  mental  and  moral  philosophy, 
French,  Spanish,  German,  and  Latin.  All  instruction 
was  to  be  vested  in  the  five  faculties  of  mathematics, 
history,  philosophy,  philology,  and  arts.  Lieber  gave 
the  following  explanation  of  his  proposed  plan :  "  The 
scientific  character,  therefore,  which  I  believe  it  is  neces 
sary  to  give  to  the  College  is,  that  it  shall  be  a  poly 
technic  college  and  a  seminary  for  teachers ;  two  things 
which  may  be  admirably  combined,  and  I  shall  consider 
it  as  my  happiest  labor  if  the  following  Constitution 
shall  appear  to  you  to  provide  for  these  wants,  and  I 
shall  thus  contribute  my  mite  to  assist  our  nation  in 
fulfilling  its  great  and  proud  task,  imposed  upon  it  by 
history." 

In  1835,  Lieber's  views  on  "The  Relation  Between 
Education  and  Crime,"  appeared  in  the  form  of  a 
letter  addressed  to  Bishop  White.  In  this  essay,  he 
gave  the  following  as  the  sources  of  many  crimes: 
i.  Deficient  education,  early  loss  of  parents,  and  conse 
quent  neglect  are  some  of  the  most  fruitful  sources  of 


102  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

crime ;  2.  That  few  convicts  have  learned  a  regular 
trade,  and  if  they  were  bound  to  any  apprenticeship, 
they  have  abandoned  it  before  the  time  had  lawfully 
expired;  3.  That  school  education  is,  with  most  con 
victs,  very  deficient,  or  entirely  wanting;  4.  That  in 
temperance,  very  often  the  consequence  of  a  loose 
education,  is  a  most  appalling  source  of  crime ;  5. 
That  by  preventing  intemperance,  and  by  promoting 
education,  we  are  authorized  to  believe  that  we  shall 
prevent  crime  in  a  considerable  degree. 

Lieber  laid  great  stress  upon  the  importance  of 
education  in  politics.  He  believed  that  the  State 
should  be  interested  not  only  in  the  promotion 
of  education  among  the  poor,  but  that  a  com 
plete  system  of  public  instruction  comprehends  all 
institutions  which  are  necessary  for  society,  and  which 
cannot  be  established  by  private  means.  He  main 
tained  that  even  the  lowliest  cottager  has  a  right  to 
the  highest  possible  degree  of  cultivation  in  the 
sciences.  He  looked  upon  the  following  four  qualities 
as  of  much  importance  in  education  applied  to  politics: 
the  habit  of  obedience,  of  independence,  of  reverence, 
and  of  honesty. 

In  his  inaugural  address,  delivered  on  February  17, 
1858,  on  assuming  the  chair  of  history  and  political 
science  in  Columbia  College,  Lieber  made  an  eloquent 
plea  for  a  national  university  in  our  country,  sharing 
the  views  held  by  Washington  and  other  statesmen  of 


A   NATIONAL  UNIVERSITY  103 

the  day.  For  twenty  years  he  had  been  urging  the 
establishment  of  a  real  university  in  America,  and,  in 
1857,  at  his  suggestion,  Columbia  College  took  a  step 
in  that  direction.  His  inaugural  address  has  a  pecul 
iar  interest  to-day  on  account  of  the  recent  discussion 
on  the  national  university.  It  serves  also  to  illustrate 
his  exalted  ideal  of  the  relation  of  the  State  to  higher 
education. 

After  referring  to  the.  national  crisis  which  led  to 
the  establishment  of  the  University  of  Berlin,  Lieber 
spoke  in  the  following  beautiful  language :  - 

"  We  are,  indeed,  not  prostrated  like  Prussia  after 
the  French  conquest,  but  we  stand  no  less  in  need 
of  a  broad  national  institution  of  learning  and  teach 
ing.  Our  government  is  a  federal  union.  We  loyally 
adhere  to  it  and  turn  our  faces  from  centralization, 
however  brilliant,  for  a  time,  the  lustre  of  its  focus 
may  appear,  however  imposingly  centred  power,  that 
saps  self-government,  may  hide  for  a  day  the  inherent 
weakness  of  military  concentrated  politics.  But  truths 
are  truths.  It  is  a  truth  that  modern  civilization 
stands  in  need  of  entire  countries;  and  it  is  a  truth 
that  every  government,  as  indeed  every  institution 
whatever,  is,  by  its  nature,  exposed  to  the  danger  of 
gradually  increased  and,  at  last,  excessive  action  of 
its  vital  principle.  One-sidedness  is  a  universal  effect 
of  man's  state  of  sin.  Confederacies  are  exposed  to 
the  danger  of  sej unction,  as  unitary  governments  are 


104  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

exposed  to  absorbing  central  power  —  centrifugal 
power  in  the  one  case,  centripetal  power  in  the  other. 
That  illustrious  predecessor  of  ours,  from  whom  we 
borrowed  our  very  name,  the  United  States  of  the 
Netherlands,  suffered  long  from  the  paralyzing  poison 
of  disjunction,  and  was  brought  to  an  early  grave 
by  it,  after  having  added  to  the  stock  of  humanity 
such  worshipful  names  as  William  of  Orange,  and 
De  Witt,  Grotius,  De  Ruyter,  and  William  the  Third. 
There  is  no  German  within  my  hearing  that  does 
not  sadly  remember  that  his  country,  too,  furnishes 
us  with  bitter  commentaries  on  this  truth ;  and  we 
are  not  exempt  from  the  dangers  common  to  mortals. 
Yet  as  was  indicated  just  now,  the  patriot,  of  us 
moderns  ought  to  consist  in  a  wide  land  covered  by 
a  nation,  and  not  in  a  city  or  a  little  colony.  Man 
kind  have  outgrown  the  ancient  city-state.  Countries 
are  the  orchards  and  the  broad  acres  where  modern 
civilization  gathers  her  grain  and  nutritious  fruits. 
The  narrow  garden  beds  of  antiquity  suffice  for  our 
widened  humanity  no  more  than  the  short  existence 
of  ancient  states.  Moderns  stand  in  need  of  nations 
and  of  national  longevity,  for  their  literatures  and 
law,  their  industry,  liberty,  and  patriotism;  we  want 
countries  to  work  and  speak,  write  and  glow  for, 
to  live  and  die  for.  The  sphere  of  humanity  has 
steadily  widened,  and  nations  alone  can  nowadays 
acquire  the  membership  of  that  great  commonwealth 


A   NATIONAL  UNIVERSITY  105 

of  our  race  which  extends  over  Europe  and  America. 
Has  it  ever  been  sufficiently  impressed  on  our  minds 
how  slender  the  threads  are  that  unite  us  in  a  mere 
political  system  of  states,  if  we  are  not  tied  together 
by  the  far  stronger  cords  of  those  feelings  which  arise 
from  the  consciousness  of  having  a  country  to  cling 
to  and  to  pray  for,  and  unimpeded  land  and  water 
roads  to  move  on  ? 

"  Should  we,  then,  not  avail  ourselves  of  so  well 
proved  a  cultural  means  of  fostering  and  promoting 
a  generous  nationality,  as  a  comprehensive  university 
is  known  to  be  ?  Shall  we  never  have  this  noble 
pledge  of  our  nationality?  All  Athens,  the  choicest 
city-state  of  antiquity,  may  well  be  said  to  have  been 
one  great  university,  where  masters  daily  met  with 
masters,  and  shall  we  not  have  even  one  for  our 
whole  empire,  which  does  not  extend  from  bay  to 
bay,  like  little  Attica,  but  from  sea  to  sea,  and  is 
destined  one  day  to  link  ancient  Europe  to  still 
older  Asia,  and  thus  to  help  completing  the  zone  of  c 
civilization  around  the  globe  ? " 

As  we  contemplate  the  recent  development  of  our 
American  universities,  the  words  of  Lieber  have  a  spe 
cial  significance.  We  are  just  entering  upon  that 
promising  era  of  liberal  education,  which  he  anticipated  } 
forty  years  ago,  and  which  is  beginning  to  glow  with 
the  far-reaching  spirit  of  a  stronger  nationality. 

On  January    15,   1831,   Lieber  wrote  to   Ranke,  the 


;•    .« ^ 


1 06  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

historian,  as  follows :  "  As  it  is  said  of  the  great  Coper 
nicus  that  to  the  fact  that  he  happened  to  live  in  Italy 
is  due  the  sublime  idea  of  his  planetary  system,  so  it  is 
important  for  the  historian  to  live  in  a  politically  active 
country,  such  as  England  or  the  United  States.  In 
Germany,  the  student  of  history  can  learn  it  only  in  the 
libraries ;  in  Italy,  in  retrospection ;  but  in  England  and 
America,  in  its  actual  existence.  And  for  the  present 
time,  of  which  the  key  is  the  democratic  principle, — 
I  mean  this  only  in  opposition  to  the  feudal  principle, 
and  not  with  regard  to  power, — the  United  States  and 
France  seem  to  me  to  be  the  high  schools  of  history." 1 
When  Lieber  was  elected  professor  of  history  and 
political  economy  in  South  Carolina  College,  he  be 
came  the  first  full  professor  of  these  branches  that  the 
College  ever  had,  and  he  gave  more  extended  courses 
than  were  offered  at  the  time  in  the  largest  institutions 
of  the  country.  It  was  not  until  two  hundred  years 
after  the  founding  of  Harvard,  that  the  study  of  history 
was  given  any  prominence  in  that  institution.  In  1839, 
a  special  chair  was  endowed,  and  Jared  Sparks  was 
made  professor  of  ancient  and  modern  history.  Before 
this  time,  it  was  customary  to  devote  an  hour  to  history 
on  Saturday  mornings  for  half  a  year.  As  early  as  1822, 
general  history,  as  distinguished  from  classical,  appeared 
in  the  curriculum  of  Yale  College,  and  the  same  year, 
Kent's  "Commentaries"  became  a  Senior  study.  No 

1 "  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  89. 


POSITION   AS  A  TEACHER  107 

further  development  took  place  until  1847,  when  Dr. 
Woolsey  became  president  of  the  College.  Then  polit 
ical  philosophy  was  added  to  the  course,  and  while 
Woolsey  was  engaged  in  gathering  materials  for  his  great 
works,  Lieber  was  composing  his  famous  treatise  on 
"Civil  Liberty."  In  1857,  the  same  year  that  Dr.  Andrew 
D.  White  carried  new  methods  in  history  to  the  Uni 
versity  of  Michigan,  Lieber  began  his  career  in  Colum 
bia  College.  As  early  as  1773,  John  Vardill  was  ap 
pointed  professor  of  natural  law  at  Columbia,  while  in 
1775,  he  was  made  professor  of  history  and  the  lan 
guages.  A  great  stimulus  was  given  to  historical  stud 
ies  in  the  College  by  Dr.  McVickar,  who,  in  1817,  was 
made  professor  of  philosophy,  and  within  a  year,  polit 
ical  economy  was  added  to  his  department,  i  It  was  v 
not  until  Lieber's  call  to  Columbia  that  the  College  gave 
a  prominent  place  to  institutional  history,  and  the  year 
1857,  may  be  regarded  as  a  landmark  in  historical  cul 
ture  among  our  Northern  colleges. 

Lieber's  scheme  of  historical  instruction  was  far 
more  comprehensive  than  any  undertaken  before  his 
time.  During  his  early  years  at  South  Carolina  Col 
lege,  the  Freshman  class  studied  ancient  history  to 
the  Peloponnesian  War;  the  Sophomores  to  Alex 
ander  the  Great;  the  Juniors  studied  modern  history, 
while  he  lectured  to  the  Seniors  on  political  economy. 
In  Columbia  College,  his  range  of  subjects  was  far 
more  extensive,  including  modern  history,  political 


108  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

science,  international  law,  civil  law,  and  common  law. 
The  Trustees  had  a  very  large  conception  of  the 
powers  of  endurance  of  the  historical  professor.  To 
day,  the  subjects  assigned  to  Lieber  would  be  dis 
tributed  among  half  a  dozen  men.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  President  Barnard  was  dissatisfied  with  the 
arrangement,  and  urged  that  the  chair  of  history  be 
abolished.  But  the  Trustees  continued  the  same 
policy  after  Lieber  had  been  transferred  to  the  Law 
School,  as  the  resolution  of  October  9,  1865,  indicates. 
Many  of  Lieber's  former  students  and  associates 
have  related  interesting  memories  of  his  work  as  a 
teacher.  Colonel  C.  C.  Jones,  the  historian  of  Georgia, 
was  one  of  his  pupils  in  South  Carolina  College,  and 
he  regarded  it  a  genuine  privilege  to  learn  at  his 
lips.  His  classes  were  always  crowded,  and  he  tried 
to  impress  upon  the  students  the  continuity  of  his 
tory,  the  unity  of  the  human  family,  and  the  great 
principles  that  underlie  human  society.  The  sur 
roundings  of  his  lecture-room  all  tended  to  enkindle 
in  the  student  a  desire  for  liberal  knowledge.  I  There 
were  to  be  found,  of  course,  the  ordinary  maps, 
charts,  and  globes  that  are  indispensable  in  the  room 
of  the  historical  professor.  He  made  free  use  of 
blackboards,  one  of  which  he  assigned  to  the  illustra 
tion  of  historical  lectures.  He  called  it  the  "battle 
blackboard,"  and  it  was  permanently  marked  in  col 
umns  headed:  name  of  the  war;  in  what  country  or 


POSITION   AS   A  TEACHER  109 

province  the  battle ;  when ;  who  victorious  over  whom ; 
effects  of  the  battle;  peace.  He  directed  his  students 
always  after  having  finished  an  important  period,  to 
make  synchronistic  tables  of  the  same.  They  pasted 
yards  of  paper  together  in  order  to  be  able  to  get 
around  the  earth.  Many  of  the  students  told  Lieber 
that  these  tables  opened  to  them  an  entirely  new 
field.  The  walls  of  his  lecture-room  were  also  graced 
with  the  busts  of  the  great  men  of  ancient  and  mod 
ern  times,  and  each  new  class  contributed  one  or 
two.  There,  as  mute  witnesses  of  the  past,  stood 
Homer,  Demosthenes,  Socrates,  Cicero,  Shakespeare, 
Milton,  Kant,  Goethe,  Humboldt,  Luther,  Washing 
ton,  Hamilton,  and  William  Penn.  The  illustrious 
trio,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Clay  were  also  repre 
sented,  as  were  two  of  the  favorite  public  servants  of 
South  Carolina,  Preston  and  McDuffie.  Washington's 
bust  was  at  the  entrance  to  his  lecture-room,  with 
these  words  painted  under  it  on  the  wall:  Fortis  et 
Probus — Justus  et  Tenax.  He  was  fond  of  quoting 
the  maxims  of  great  scholars,  and  one  day  while  tell 
ing  the  Juniors  that  they  came  to  college  to  learn 
not  for  the  college,  but  for  life,  the  words  of  Seneca 
occurred  to  him,  Non  schola  discimus,  sed  vita; 
"we  do  not  learn  for  the  school,  but  for  life."  This 


idea  fastened  on  his  mind,  and  he  had  made  a  tab 
let  with  these  words :  Non  scholcz  sed  Vita ;  Vita 
utrisque, —  "not  for  the  school,  but  for  life;  the  life 


HO  FRANCIS   LIBBER 

here  and  hereafter."  This  tablet  was  fastened  against 
the  wall  right  over  Washington's  bust,  and  this  bust 
was  immediately  over  Lieber's  head  when  he  lectured. 
Lieber's  colleagues  in  the  Faculty  of  South  Caro 
lina  College  had  the  highest  regard  for  his  worth  as 
a  teacher,  to  which  Professor  la  Borde  bears  the 
following  willing  testimony  :  "  To  his  classes,  he  poured 
out  his  learning  in  one  continued  stream ;  and  some 
times  it  confounded  from  its  very  profusion.  Full  of 
enthusiasm  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  he  always 
exhibited  the  greatest  earnestness  of  purpose.  Of  the 
amount  of  his  labors  in  the  College,  it  is  not  easy  to 
form  a  correct  estimate.  His  whole  time,  with  but 
little  relaxation,  was  devoted  to  the  severest  toil.  From 
his  study  to  his  classroom,  from  his  classroom  to  his 
study  —  this  was  his  life ;  and  yet  with  all  this  labor, 
his  spirit  was  fresh,  and  his  ardor  unabated.  Never 
have  I  known  a  more  unsatiable  appetite,  and  he  was 
ever  in  search  of  food  for  its  gratification.  But  not 
to  indulge  in  metaphor,  I  have  never  met  a  more 
inquiring  mind.  He  was  always  in  quest  of  knowl 
edge  and  drew  it  from  every  source.  Like  Franklin, 
he  would  extract  it  even  from  the  ignorant  and  un 
thinking,  and  thus  he  levied  his  contributions  upon 
all.  All  know  how  suggestive  a  fact  may  be  to  a 
thoughtful  mind,  and  what  beautiful  superstructures 
of  knowledge  have  been  reared  from  the  humblest 
beginnings.  Overflowing  with  knowledge  on  such  a 


TRIBUTE   FROM   JUDGE   THAYER  m 

variety  of  subjects,  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  render 
a  particular  service  to  the  young  men  of  the  College, 
which  I  have  always  regarded  of  immense  value.  In 
the  many  public  exercises  which  they  are  required  to 
perform,  such  as  speeches  at  the  exhibition,  at  com 
mencement,  before  the  societies,  and  prize  essays, 
nothing  was  more  common  than  to  seek  a  conversa 
tion  with  Lieber,  who  would  suggest  the  plan  of 
discussion,  and  point  to  the  best  sources  of  informa 
tion.  His  lectures  and  published  works,  too,  furnished 
a  mine  of  thought  and  knowledge,  from  which  the 
richest  treasures  were  drawn." 

One  of  Lieber's  most  intimate  friends  was  Hon. 
M.  Russell  Thayer,  of  Philadelphia.  They  became 
acquainted  during  the  Civil  War,  while  Mr.  Thayer 
was  a  representative  in  Congress,  and  Lieber  was  a 
frequent  guest  at  his  house.  On  January  13,  1873, 
Mr.  Thayer  delivered  a  eulogy  on  his  life  and  char 
acter  before  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  in 
which  he  spoke  of  his  work  as  a  teacher  in  the  fol 
lowing  language :  [ "  His  method  of  teaching  was  such  I 
as  to  make  the  subject  attractive  in  the  highest  de 
gree  to  his  students,  and  they  thoroughly  understood 
everything  they  learned.  He  never  read  lectures,  but 
expounded  his  subjects  in  terse,  familiar  language,  and 
impressed  them  by  copious  and  happy  illustrations. 
At  the  end  of  every  recitation  he  gave  out  what  for 
the  next  time  they  ought  to  read  collaterally,  and 


112  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

what  peculiar  subjects  or  persons  they  ought  to  study 
besides  the  lesson.  He  caused  them  to  read  poetry 
and  fiction  in  connection  with  history,  in  order  to  see 
how  great  writers  had  conceived  great  characters.  He 
relied  much  upon  the  blackboard.  To  one  he  would 
give  chronology,  to  another  geography,  to  another 
names,  and  to  another  battles.  Four  large  black 
boards  were  in  constant  use  at  the  same  time,  and 
often  a  considerable  portion  of  the  floor  besides.  All 
names  were  required  to  be  written  down,  sometimes 
sixty  or  seventy  by  one  student,  with  a  word  or  two 
showing  that  the  writer  knew  what  they  meant.  All 
places  were  pointed  out  on  large  maps  and  globes. 
All  definitions  were  written  on  the  blackboard,  in 
order  that  there  might  be  no  mistake.  He  always 
appointed  a  lesson,  but  the  students  when  they  came 
did  not  know  whether  they  were  to  recite  or  listen 
to  a  lecture ;  so  that  they  always  had  to  be  prepared. 
Notes  of  his  lectures  were  to  be  taken,  and  he 
required  each  student  to  have  a  blank-book,  wherein 
they  must  enter  titles  of  books  and  subjects  to  be 
studied  in  later  life  —  such  as  were  necessary  for  an 
educated  man ;  and  he  was  particular  in  requiring 
this  blank-book  to  have  a  firm  cover.  He  used  to 
say  that  books  were  like  men,  of  little  use  without  a 
stiff  back." 

Lieber  fully  realized  the  solemn  responsibilities  con 
nected  with  his   position  as  a  teacher  of   history  and 


POLITICAL  VALUE   OF   HISTORY  113 

politics.  With  him,  history  was  something  vastly  more 
important  than  a  mere  record  of  the  growth  of  nations. 
He  sought  to  discover  the  sure  principles  upon  which 
human  society  is  founded ;  to  point  out  conspicuous 
examples  of  virtue  or  vice ;  to  examine  the  operation 
of  wise  laws,  and  to  remind  the  student  of  the  national 
ruin  that  inevitably  follows  the  disregard  of  right  and 
duty.  In  his  inaugural  address  in  South  Carolina 
College,  in  1835,  he  portrayed  in  vivid  language  the 
arduous  task  and  the  potent  influence  of  the  historical 
teacher.  He  said :  "  I  know  of  but  few  stations  more 
dignified  than  that  of  a  public  teacher  of  history; 
scarcely  of  one  more  elevated  than  that  of  a  teacher 
appointed  by  a  republic  to  instruct  her  children  in  civil 
history.  For  if  history  is  a  science  important  to  every 
one,  it  is  peculiarly  so  to  republicans  —  to  members  of 
a  community  which  essentially  depends  upon  institu 
tions.  If  they  have  to  defend  them  against  open  attacks 
or  plausible  heresies,  they  must  know  them,  must  be 
well  acquainted  with  their  essential  character,  as  well 
as  with  the  insinuating  plausibility  and  the  ruinous  con 
sequences  with  which  those  undermining  heresies  have 
been  advanced  with  other  nations  and  in  distant  ages. 
History  is  the  memory  of  nations ;  oh !  how  many  have 
been  lost  for  want  of  this  memory,  and  on  account  of 
careless,  guilty  ignorance  ! "  To  say  that  Lieber  taught 
history  and  political  science,  conveys  no  adequate 
notion  of  the  scope  of  his  work.  His  course  of  study 


114  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

could  not  be  stated  in  terms  of  a  curriculum.  It  was 
an  inspiration,  which  infused  the  noblest  sentiments 
into  the  minds  of  his  pupils.  In  his  "  Civil  Liberty  and 
Self-Government,"  he  reviews  the  character  of  his  work 
as  a  teacher  of  history  in  the  following  dedication  to  his 

former  students :    "  When    you    were   members  of   this 
V 

institution,   I   led  you  through  the  history  of  man,  of 

rising  and  of  ebbing  civilization,  of  freedom,  despotism, 
and  anarchy.  I  have  taught  you  how  men  are  destined 
to  be  producers  and  exchangers,  how  wealth  is  gathered 
and  lost,  and  how,  without  it,  there  can  be  no  progress 
and  no  culture.  I  have  studied,  with  many  of  you,  the 
ethics  of  states  and  of  political  man.  You  can  bear  me 
witness  that  I  have  endeavored  to  convince  you  of  man's 
inextinguishable  individuality,  and  of  the  organic  nature 
of  society ;  that  there  is  no  right  without  a  parallel  duty, 
no  liberty  without  the  supremacy  of  law,  and  no  destiny 
without  earnest  perseverance  —  that  there  can  be  no 
greatness  without  self-denial.  Through  you,  my  life  and 
name  are  linked  to  the  Republic,  and  it  seems  natural 
that  I  should  dedicate  to  you  a  work  intended  to  com 
plete  that  part  of  my  '  Political  Ethics '  which  touches 
more  especially  on  liberty.  You  will  take  it  as  the  gift 
of  a  friend,  and  will  allow  it  kindly  to  remind  you  of 
that  room  where  you  were  accustomed  to  sit  before  your 
teacher  with  the  busts  of  Washington,  Socrates,  Shakes 
peare,  and  other  laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  humanity 
looking  down  upon  us." 


THE   MODERN   TEACHER   OF   HISTORY  115 

Lieber  regarded  the  environment  and  position  of  the 
teacher  of  history  in  this  country  as  especially  favora 
ble  to  productive  work.  In  contrasting  antiquity  with 
modern  times,  he  saw  in  the  former  but  one  leading 
nation  at  any  given  period,  while  in  our  day,  "several 
nations  strive  in  the  career  of  progress  like  the  coursers 
of  the  Greek  chariot."  While  in  ancient  times,  the 
philosopher  made  his  appearance  after  the  period  of 
high  vitality  had  passed,  the  modern  teacher  lives 
in  a  productive  age,  and  has  aided  in  bringing  on 
greater  epochs  of  progress.  He  defined  the  teacher 
of  to-day  as  one  whose  lot  is  not  merely  the  summing 
up  of  the  political  life  of  a  golden  age  never  to  be 
surpassed.  While  Schlegel  called  the  historian  "  the 
prophet  of  the  past,"  Lieber  would  honor  him  as  "  the 
sower  of  fresh  harvests."  While  the  ancient  historian 
could  speak  only  of  the  ruin  of  departed  states,  Lieber 
pictured  for  the  modern  teacher  a  bright  career  in  guid 
ing  statesmanship,  in  modifying  the  course  of  passion, 
and  in  giving  an  impulse  to  essential  reforms.1 

Although  living  in  an  intensely  political  age,  Lieber 
belonged  to  no  party  while  teaching.  His  was  the 
position  of  the  publicist,  and  he  experienced  what 
calmness,  resolution,  and  steadiness  of  soul  it  required 
to  lecture  on  the  subjects  belonging  to  his  chair.  He 
enjoyed,  especially  at  Columbia  College,  the  utmost 
freedom  in  teaching.  Realizing  that  he  could  obtain 

1 "  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  i,  p.  373. 


Il6  F&ANCIS   LIEBER 

no  party  reward  from  his  position,  his  highest  ambition 
was  to  be  known  as  a  wise  and  earnest  teacher.  With 
a  sacred  trust  placed  in  his  hands,  he  kept  before  him 
at  all  times  the  motto :  — 

"  PATRIA  CARA,  CARIOR  LIBERTAS,  VERITAS  CARISSIMA." 


VII 


POLITICAL    PHILOSOPHY  :     POLITICAL    ETHICS  LEGAL    AND 

POLITICAL      HERMENEUTICS  CIVIL      LIBERTY    PENAL 

LAW  THE     PARDONING      POWER OUR     CONSTITUTION 

-  V  -  -  ^  '  t 
-•  -'^ 

one  occasion  Lieber  wrote  from  his  Southern 
exile :  "  Did  I  live  an  active  life  in  some  high 
sphere  of  action,  I  should  not  care  for  discomforts,  or 
even  poverty.  Give  me  an  army  to  conquer,  and  I 
should  be  satisfied  with  one  wooden  bowl,  as  Omar 
was.  There  are  few  in  the  world  who  can  realize  my 
situation.  People  who  live  in  intellectual  and  social 
communion  do  not  know  how  much  they  owe,  as  to 
incitement,  the  starting  of  ideas,  and  their  regulation 
and  modification,  to  that  communion.  The  mere  see 
ing  a  few  persons  who  reflect  and  think,  —  it  need  not 
be  in  the  same  line,  —  and  who  are  befriended  with  us, 
stirs,  animates,  vivifies.  The  mind  is  sharpened  again 
as  the  razor  on  a  strop.  Now,  I  have  not  one,  not 
even  one,  here  who  sympathizes  with  me,  still  less  one 
from  whom  I  could  derive  stirring  knowledge  in  my 
sphere."  Such  were  Lieber's  feelings  when  he  began 
to  write  upon  those  subjects  that  had  long  occupied 

117 


Il8  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

his  mind.  It  was  not  given  to  him  to  lead  an  active 
life  in  the  North,  or  to  receive  a  foreign  mission  where 
he  might  enjoy  Europe,  with  her  science  and  her  art. 
The  solitude  of  the  South  deprived  him  of  these  pleas 
ures,  but  opened  up  to  him  instead  a  career  of  rich 
production.  The  very  loneliness  of  his  situation  con 
tributed  to  the  fame  of  his  writings ;  for  in  treating 
the  subject  of  political  science  he  had  to  venture  upon 
an  untrodden  path,  where  friends  could  offer  but  little 
advice.  His  work  required  mental  isolation,  and  he 
once  said :  "  My  book,  as  it  is  before  the  public,  I  have 
been  obliged  to  spin  solitarily  out  of  my  brain,  as 
the  spider  spins  its  cobwebs."  It  is  a  most  inter 
esting  study  to  follow  Lieber  in  his  transition  from  a 
young  enthusiast  for  freedom,  writing  poems  on  love, 
liberty,  and  friendship,  to  a  great  publicist,  known  by 
his  works  in  every  land  of  progress.1  On  coming  to 
America,  his  deep  enthusiasm  for  freedom  was  followed 
by  a  careful  study  of  the  principles  of  well-ordered  lib 
erty.  He  realized  that  it  was  a  dangerous  path  he  had 
to  follow.  In  his  inaugural  address  in  Columbia  Col 
lege,  on  February  17,  1858,  he  showed  how  the  intense 

1  "  We  wonder,  as  we  become  acquainted  with  him  in  the  writings  of 
his  mature  life,  how  there  could  have  been  any  froth  of  liberty  in  his  youth 
which  brought  suspicion  upon  him,  and  can  only  account  for  the  treatment 
he  received  from  the  police  of  his  native  country  by  that  dread  of  revolution 
which  French  movements  during  a  generation  had  aroused,  and  which,  with 
unnatural  sharpness  of  sight,  saw  in  the  youthful  deliverers  of  their  country 
the  foes  of  kings.11  —  DR.  T.  D.  WOOLSEY,  IN  INTRODUCTION  TO  CIVIL  LIB 
ERTY  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT. 


SCHOOLS  OF   LAW  AND   POLITICS  119 

interest  in  history  and  politics  had  developed  schools, 
and  he  warned  all  against  the  danger  of  falling  into 
serious  errors.  During  his  youthhood  in  Germany  two 
opposing  schools  of  law  and  politics  existed.  "The 
so-called  historical  school  sprang  up,  which  seems  to 
believe  that  nothing  can  be  right  but  what  has  been, 
and  that  all  that  has  been  is  therefore  right,  sacrificing 
right  and  justice,  freedom,  truth,  and  wisdom  at  the 
shrine  of  Precedent  and  at  the  altar  of  Fact. 
Another  school  has  come  into  existence,  spread  at 
this  time  more  widely  than  the  other,  and  considering 
itself  the  philosophical  school  by  way  of  excellence. 
I  mean  those  historians  who  seek  the  highest  work  of 
history  in  finding  out  a  predetermined  type  of  social 
development  in  each  state  and  nation,  and  in  every 
race,  reducing  men  to  instinctive  and  involuntary  be 
ings,  and  society  to  nothing  better  than  a  bee-hive."1 
But  Lieber  rose  above  these  opposing  forces.  He 
had  an  ideal  nature,  but  his  contact  with  the  stern 
realities  of  life  had  toned  him  down.  While  many 
political  philosophers  had  merely  formed  ideals,  he 
had  learned  by  cold  experience.  His  enthusiasm  had 
brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  Prussian  authorities, 
while  the  Waterloo  campaign,  the  prison  life,  the  flight 
in  exile,  his  disappointment  in  Greece,  his  farewell 
to  the  Old  World  and  his  life  in  the  New  — all  had 
made  him  conscious  of  the  power  of  facts.  While  his 

1  "  Miscellaneous  Writings,1'  vol.  i,  p.  340. 


120  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

philosophy  belonged  to  the  system  of  Naturrechtslehre, 
so  popular  in  Europe  at  the  time,  he  escaped  its  many 
errors  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of  history  and  of 
practical  life.1  In  a  tribute  to  Lieber,  Dr.  Bluntschli 
remarked:  "The  settlement  of  the  old-time  conflict  of 
schools,  and  the  union  of  the  philosophical  and  histori 
cal  methods,  in  contrast  to  the  dangerous  one-sidedness 
of  either  of  the  two,  was  a  mark  of  great  progress,  ef 
fected  gradually,  and  for  the  most  part,  since  1840,  in 
the  jurisprudence  and  political  science  of  Germany; 
somewhat  later,  however,  in  Italy.  Lieber  belongs  to 
the  first  representatives  of  this  peaceful  alliance,  al 
though,  indeed,  it  had  been  tried  by  the  best  politicians 
long  before,  by  Aristotle  and  by  Cicero,  and  recom- 

/    mended  by  Bacon."2 
•/"""*  .  UUvv^    ;     • 

[When  Lieber  made  his  home  in  America,  no  sys 
tematic  political  philosophy  existed  here.  It  was  not 
the  purpose  of  the  Revolutionary  fathers  to  construct 
a  science  of  politics,  but  they  wrote  with  the  view  of 
meeting  great  emergencies.  Dr.  Dunning  says :  "  Our 
political  literature,  therefore,  while  unquestionably  vo 
luminous,  is  a  literature  of  concrete  controversy  rather 

1  "  Lieber's  historical  learning  saved  him  from  the  most  extreme  and  often 
absurd  conclusions  of  the  school  with  which  he  was  identified  ;  but  his  erudition 
itself  brought  confusion  into  the  presentation  of  his  ideas.     It  is  a  serious  task 
to  follow  his  system  through  the  mass  of  illustrations  and  digressions  in  which 
it  is  imbedded."  —  ESSAYS  ON  THE  CIVIL  WAR  AND  RECONSTRUCTION,  BY 
W.  A.  DUNNING,  p.  361. 

2  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  9. 


POLITICAL   PHILOSOPHY   IN   AMERICA,  121 

than  of  abstract  speculation."  Although  Jefferson  and 
Hamilton  founded  political  parties,  they  wrote  no  sys 
tematic  philosophy.  John  C.  Calhoun's  "  Disquisition 
on  Government,"  is  remarkable  as  a  political  essay, 
but  it  forms  no  complete  philosophy  of  the  State,1  and 
Webster,  who  defended  the  principle  of  national  unity, 
spoke  as  a  lawyer  rather  than  a  philosopher.  In  prac 
tical  politics  there  had  been  a  more  rapid  development. 
/At  the  time  that  Lieber  began  his  great  works,  the 
older  generation  of  statesmen  had  passed  away,  and 
a  new  element  was  to  be  found  in  Congress.  ;  The 
country  was  developing  with  great  rapidity,  and  the 
line  of  statehood  had  crossed  the  Mississippi  River. 
The  slavery  agitation  had  begun  with  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  and  new  political  forces  were  at  work  in 
the  evolution  of  democracy.  Jackson,  the  first  Presi 
dent  from  the  mass  of  the  people,  had  been  called  to  the 
executive  office,  and  the  force  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Declaration  was  being  felt,  especially  in  the  Northern 
states.  A  great  extension  of  the  suffrage  had  taken 
place,  and  property  and  religious  qualifications  were 
gradually  removed.  At  that  time,  in  the  language  of 
Chief  Justice  Waite,  a  new  problem  of  political  science 
was  being  solved,  "  whether  it  was  possible  to  successfully 
work  a  scheme,  contemplating  the  contemporaneous 
supremacy,  in  each  of  the  thirteen  independent  com 
monwealths,  of  two  governments,  distinct  and  separate 

1 "  Essays  on  the  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction,"  by  W.  A.  Dunning. 


122  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

in  their  action,  yet  commanding  with  equal  authority, 
the  obedience  of  the  same  people,  so  that  each  in  its 
allotted  sphere  should  perform  its  functions  without 
impediment  to  or  collision  with  the  other." l  /As  Lieber 
had  longed  for  national  unity  in  Germany,  he  naturally 
became  a  follower  of  the  ideas  of  Hamilton  and  Mar 
shall;  and  while  the  whole  country  was  agitated  over 
the  debates  of  Calhoun,  Hayne,  and  Webster,  on  the 
nature  of  the  Union,  Lieber  was  preparing  his  "  Politi 
cal  Ethics,"  the  nearest  approach  to  a  political  science 
then  known  in  America?] 

On  his  appointment"  in  South  Carolina  College, 
Lieber  at  once  began  to  labor  at  this  great  production. 
In  the  summer  of  1835,  he  wrote  to  Sumner:  "My 
book  is  matured.  It  is  all  clear  in  my  mind,  even 
the  six  books  into  which  I  divide  it,  and  the  chapters 
of  these  books,  with  a  mass  of  notes.  I  am  now  read 
ing  a  long  list  of  books,  in  order  to  receive,  perhaps, 
new  ideas  or  to  be  led  to  new  views,  to  glean,  perhaps, 
additional  authorities,  and  to  strengthen  myself.  The 
title,  I  think,  will  be,  '  On  Political  Ethics,  or  the 
Citizen  considered  with  regard  to  his  Moral  Obliga 
tions  arising  from  his  Participation  in  Government.' " 
His  plan  was  to  lecture  in  the  College  on  the  subject, 
and  thus  to  write  the  whole  continually.  He  was 
warmly  encouraged  by  Judge  Story  and  Sumner,  who 

1 "  Constitutional  History  as  Seen  in  American  Law,"  p.  55. 

'2 "  Essays  on  the  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction,"  by  W.  A.  Dunning,  p.  360. 


POLITICAL  ETHICS 

read  the  manuscript  and  rendered  other  valuable  assist 
ance;  while  he  derived  great  advantage  from  the 
kindness  of  his  friend,  Mr.  G.  S.  Hillard,  of  Boston. 
"  He  has  done  to  me,"  says  Lieber,  "  and  I  fondly 
hope  through  me  to  the  public,  a  service  which  literary 
men  will  know  how  to  appreciate,  especially  those 
who  write  in  an  idiom  which  they  have  not  learned 
from  their  mother's  lips."  He  entered  into  this  work 
with  all  the  enthusiasm  that  marked  every  undertaking 
of  his  life.  The  boldness  of  the  work  enticed  him,  and 
he  believed  that  the  book  would  be  widely  noticed, 
as  the  whole  subject  was  so  vital  to  his  time. 

The  manuscript  of  the  "  Political  Ethics "  was  com 
pleted  in  June,  1838,  and  Lieber  made  arrangements 
to  have  it  published  through  Messrs.  Little  and  Brown, 
of  Boston.  The  influence  of  the  work  was  very  great 
from  the  start,  the  first  edition  being  almost  exhausted 
by  September,  1839.  Lieber  launched  forth  the  work 
in  a  characteristic  letter  to  Hillard,  in  which  he  said: 
"  Seven  hundred  pages !  It  is  enough  to  drag  a  man 
with  cork  and  bladder  to  the  bottom.  With  such  a 
book  tied  to  my  feet,  I  shall  struggle  in  future  to 
float  on  the  lake  of  literature  like  a  man  entangled 
in  weed.  ...  No  use  in  croaking;  the  book  is 
printed ;  so  go,  my  broad-bottomed  duck,  swim  and 
float  like  a  Dutch  galliot  as  long  and  as  well  as  thou 
canst.  I  have  written  my  name  on  the  stern.  If  it 
sinks,  the  name  sinks  with  it." 


~  ^MV^; 
124  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

The  keynote  to  the  "  Political  Ethics  "  is,  "  No  right 
without  its  duties,  no  duty  without  its  rights."1,;  His 
field  included  not  only  a  discussion  of  natural  rights 
and  a  theory  of  the  State,  but  also  that  large  group 
of  subjects  not  included  in  either  political  or  legal 
science  —  public  opinion,  parties,  factions,  opposition, 
the  obligation  to  vote,  influence  in  voting,  friendship 
in  politics,  love  of  truth,  perseverance,  newspaper  pub 
lishing,  the  duty  of  representatives,  judges,  advocates, 
and  office  holders,  and  the  pardoning  power.  After 
defining  ethics  as  the  science  which  treats  of  our 
moral  character,  the  good  that  is  within  us,  and  the 
application  of  this  good  in  our  various  relations  be 
tween  man  and  man,  Lieber  emphasizes  the  necessity 


1  "  Lieber  had  himself  translated  it  into  French  by  the  two  words,  '  Droit 
oblige,'  and  the  English  formula  was  printed  at  the  head  of  all  his  letters. 
One  day  he  noticed  that  the  Socie'te'  Internationale  at  the  Congress  of  Geneva 
had  appropriated  this  device,  and  still  later,  during  the  reign  of  the  Paris 
Commune,  that  they  had  inscribed  on  some  banners,  <Pas  de  droits  sans 
devoirs,  pas  devoirs  sans  droits.1  We  have  his  letter  before  us  in  which  he 
expresses  his  vexation,  and  the  disgust  which  he  felt  at  the  profanation  of  his 
favorite  maxim."  —  G.  RQLIN-J^EQUEMYNS,  IN  THE  INTERNATIONAL  REVIEW. 

"In  my  inaugural  in  Columbia  College  in  1859,  I  sa^  again  what  I  had 
said  before,  and  what  occurred  to  my  mind  as  early  as  when  I  sailed  to  Greece 
in  1822,  —  that  right  and  duty  were  like  the  St.  Elmo's  flame  in  the  Mediter 
ranean.  I  was  on  the  deck  of  our  little  schooner,  when  I  observed  a  little 
flame  at  the  end  of  the  yard-arm.  « That  is  bad,  indeed,'  said  the  captain ; 
and  then  told  me  that  the  flames  were  called  Castor  and  Pollux,  or  St.  Elmo's 
fire.  If  both  appeared  at  the  same  time,  it  foretold  a  fine  sailing ;  if  only  one 
appeared,  foul  weather  was  apprehended.  Thought  I,  this  is  like  right  and 
duty :  both  together,  and  all  is  well ;  right  alone,  despotism,  —  duty  alone, 
slavery."  —  LIEBER  IN  A  LETTER  TO  JUDGE  THAYER,  November  5,  1869. 


NATURAL  RIGHTS 

of  man's  individuality,  in  connection  with  morality  and 
sociality,  as  a  basis  of  civilization.  Following  this, 
he  recognizes  another  science,  natural  law,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  show  the  rights  which  man  has  accord 
ing  to  his  inherent,  ethical  nature.  In  this,  he  claims 
to  have  shown  more  clearly  than  any  other  writer,  the 
idea  of  the  word  "nature,"  if  applied  to  man.;  His  phi-1 
losophy  embodies  natural  rights,  not  in  primitive, 
"but  in  highly  civilized)  man,  thus  reversing  the  order 
of  his  predecessors,  who  looked  for  the  natural  con 
dition  of  man  in  an  ante-political  state.  Lieber's  the 
ory  of  natural  law  is  based  upon  the  axiom,  "  I  exist 
as  a  human  being,  therefore  I  have  a  right  to  exist 
as  a  human  being."  The  science  itself  is  defined  as 
the  body  of  rights  which  we  deduce  from  the  essential 
nature  of  man ;  at  the  same  time,  natural  law  and 
ethics  are  considered  different,  the  former  treating  of 
the  individual's  rights,  and  of  his  obligations  flowing 
from  the  fact  of  each  man's  being  possessed  of  the 
same  rights.^:  Lieber's  system  includes  a  third  science, 
that  of  politics^  proper,  which  ascertains  how  these 
rights  are  best  secured,  and  what  form  of  government 
to  adopt.  It  is  this  application  of  ethics  to  man's 
political  relations  which  he  calls  political  ethics. 
From  this  ethical  point  of  view,  the  State  is  an  insti 
tution  for  a  distinct  moral  end,  philosophers  being 
agreed  that  politics  should  not  admit  of  immorality. 
According  to  Lieber's  philosophy,  the  State  is  a 


126  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

society  founded  upon  the  relation  of  right ;  hence  it  is 
a  jural  society.1  That  he  was  not  a  follower  of  Rous 
seau,  is  clearly  shown  in  the  following  extract  on  the 
nature  of  the  State :  "  The  State  is  aboriginal  with 
man ;  it  is  no  voluntary  association ;  no  contrivance  of 
art,  or  invention  of  suffering;  no  company  of  share 
holders  ;  no  machine,  no  work  of  contract  by  individuals 
who  lived  previously  out  of  it ;  no  necessary  evil,  no  ill 
of  humanity  which  will  be  cured  in  time  and  by  civili 
zation ;  no  accidental  thing,  no  institution  above  and 
separate  from  society ;  no  instrument  for  one  or  a  few ; 
no  effect  of  coercion,  or  force  of  the  powerful  over  the 
weak ;  no  mystery  founded  on  something  beyond  com 
prehension,  'or  on  an  extra-human  base ;  the  State  is  a 
form  and  faculty  of  mankind  to  lead  the  species  toward 
greater  perfection  —  it  is  the  glory  of  man." 2  This  doc 
trine  implies  that  the  State  is  the  natural  condition  of 
man;  that  even  in  the  patriarchal  system,  the  unde 
fined  attributes  of  the  State  were  united  in  one  person ; 
that  from  the  earliest  ages  the  idea  of  property  existed ; 
that  justice  was  administered ;  that  rights  were  acknowl 
edged,  and  that  where  these  conditions  are  found,  there 
is  the  State,  although  it  may  be  in  an  incipient  condi 
tion.3 

1  Referring  to  this  definition,  Lieber  once  said,  "  Hence  the  necessity  for 
me  to  form   even  a  new  word — Jurat." 

2  "Political  Ethics,"  vol.  i,  p.  162. 

8  "  Down  to  this  time,  the  two  names  which  stand  highest  in  our  American 
literature  of  political  science  are  Francis  Lieber  and  Theodore  D.  Woolsey. 


\ 

/  r  ,  » 


SOVEREIGNTY  127 


Lieber  claimed  to  be  the  first  to  make  sovereignty 
an^attribute  of  society,  giving  a  new  definition  of  it, 
and  separating  it  from  supreme  power.  His  philoso 
phy  recognizes  sovereignty  as  a  power  inherent  in  and 
existing  in  society.  The  argument  may  be  briefly 
stated  thus  :  "  There  is  an  absolute  necessity  of  man's 
living  with  man  in  relations  of  right,  of  rules  which 
guide  his  actions,  of  power  to  enforce  these  rules  when 
not  willingly  obeyed,  or  of  deciding  where  the  rights 
of  various  individuals  clash  with  each  other  —  an  abso 
lute  necessity  of  man's  living  in  society  and  of  his  being 
protected  therein.  And  this  absolute  necessity,  with 
the  power  necessarily  flowing  from  it  over  all  outward 
relations,  we  call  sovereignty."  He  maintained  also 
that  he  was  the  first  to  give  the  real  attributes  of 
sovereignty  —  public  opinion,  law,  and  power.  He  de 
fines  public  opinion  as  an  irresistible  sentiment  of  the 
community  giving  life  to  the  law,  and  forming  the  link 
between  society  and  the  State;  law,  as  public  opinion 
transferred  over  into  public  will  ;  and  power,  as  a  force 
drawn  from  the  sovereignty  of  society,  and  whoever 
opposes  this  power  must  yield. 

The  former  was,  as  everybody  knows,  a  European,  educated  under  European 
institutions,  and  a  refugee  from  their  oppression,  as  he  regarded  it.  The 
latter  was  Lieber's  ardent  admirer,  —  we  might  almost  say  disciple.  It  is  not 
strange  that  they  should  have  suffered  under  the  power  of  the  old  influences, 
and  should  have  confounded  in  some  degree,  at  least,  state  and  government 
in  their  reflections."  —  POLITICAL  SCIENCE  AND  CONSTITUTIONAL  LAW,  BY 
DR.  J.  W.  BURGESS,  vol.  i,  p.  70. 


128  FRANCIS  LIBBER 

The  "  Political  Ethics  "  treats  also  the  subjects  of  legiti 
mate  governments,  the  best  form  of  government,  obe 
dience  to  the  laws,  political  parties,  representatives,  etc. 
Lieber  made  a  conscious  effort  throughout  the  work 
to  reconcile  the  differences  of  the  historical  and  the 
philosophical  school.  That  he  was  eminently  success 
ful  in  this  endeavor  is  shown  by  the  testimony  of 
Bluntschli  and  other  foreign  publicists. 

This  great  work  attracted  the  attention  of  scholars 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  In  England,  it  was 
compared  favorably  with  the  works  of  Montesquieu ; 
while  in  America,  it  won  the  admiration  of  our  fore 
most  lawyers  and  historians.  Judge  Story  said  of  it: 
"  It  contains  by  far  the  fullest  and  most  correct  de 
velopment  of  the  true  theory  of  what  constitutes  the 
State,  that  I  have  ever  seen.  It  abounds  with  pro 
found  views  of  government,  which  are  illustrated  with 
various  learning.  To  me,  many  of  the  thoughts  are 
new,  and  striking  as  they  are  new.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  it  constitutes  one  of  the  best  theoretical 
treatises  on  the  true  nature  and  objects  of  govern 
ment  which  has  been  produced  in  modern  times,  con 
taining  much  for  instruction,  much  for  admonition, 
and  much  for  deep  meditation,  addressing  itself  to 
the  wise  and  virtuous  of  all  countries.  It  solves  the 
question  what  government  is  best  by  the  answer, 
illustrated  in  a  thousand  ways,  that  it  is  that  which 
best  promotes  the  substantial  interests  of  the  whole 


'/,"  LEGAL  AND   POLITICAL   HERMENEUTICS "        129 

people  of  the  nation  upon  which  it  acts.  Such  a 
work  is  peculiarly  important  in  these  times  when  so 
many  false  theories  are  afloat,  and  so  many  disturb 
ing  doctrines  are  promulgated."/  Judge  Kent  re 
garded  the  "  Political  Ethics "  as  a  sure  pilot  in  the 
most  dangerous  navigation,1  and  he  wrote  to  Chan 
cellor  de  Saussure,  of  South  Carolina:  — 

"  Lieber's  eminence  as  a  scholar  in  history,  political 
economy,  ethics,  principles  of  government,  geography, 
and  belles-lettres,  would  elevate  the  reputation  of  any 
university  in  our  country.  His  talents,  his  learning, 
and  his  great  moral  worth  are  conceded  by  all  his 
extensive  acquaintance,  among  whom  are  some  of  the 
first  scholars  and  jurists  in  the  United  States." 

The  favorable  reception  of  the  "  Political  Ethics " 
made  Lieber  all  the  more  ambitious  of  literary 
honors.  He  wrote  to  Sumner:  "  I  will  not  rest  un 
til  I  force  the  political  and  legal  world  to  quote  me. 
Let  me  but  have  leisure,  and  not  live  on  the  out 
skirts  of  the  literary  world,  and  I  will  do  it."  The 
appearance  of  his  "  Legal  and  Political  Hermeneutics  " 
in  1839,  contributed  much  to  the  fulfilment  of  his 

1  «  Dr.  Francis  Lieber  in  his  <  Manual  of  Political  Ethics  '  has  shown  with 
great  force  and  by  the  most  striking  and  apposite  illustrations,  the  original 
connection  between  right  and  morality,  and  the  reason  and  necessity  of  the 
application  of  the  principle  of  ethics  to  the  science  of 'politics  and  the 
administration  of  government.  The  work  is  excellent  in  its  doctrines,  and 
it  is  enriched  with  various  and  profound  erudition."  — KENT'S  COMMEN 
TARIES,  vol.  i,  p.  3. 


FRANCIS   LIEBER 

desire  for  fame.  A  native  of  a  common-law  coun 
try,  he  felt  that  his  opinion  on  this  subject  would 
command  universal  respect.  One  of  the  first  articles 
that  he  read  after  landing  in  New  York,  was  in  a  paper 
opposed  to  the  administration  of  President  Adams. 
The  writer  founded  his  objections  on  the  construc 
tion  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Lie- 
ber's  interest  became  thoroughly  aroused,  and  when 
he  began  his  work  on  "  Political  Ethics,"  he  was  led  to 
reflect  more  thoroughly  on  construction  and  inter 
pretation.  His  original  intention  was  that  the  "  Her- 
meneutics";  should  form  two  chapters  in  the  "  Political 
Ethics,"  but  when  he  came  to  write  down  his  ob 
servations,  he  found  that  they  extended  much  beyond 
the  proposed  limits.  This  led  him,  at  the  advice  of 
several  professional  gentlemen,  to  publish  the  material 
as  a  separate  volume.  He  approached  the  subject 
with  the  utmost  confidence,  knowing  full  well  its 
strong,  as  well  as  its  weak  points,  and  as  it  was  com 
pleted,  he  claimed  it  to  be  entirely  his  own.  |  His 
distinction  between  interpretation  and  construction  is 
especially  important,  and  has  been  widely  adopted  by 
legal  writers.  Interpretation  is  defined  as  "  the  art 
of  finding  out  the  true  sense  of  any  form  of  words ; 
that  is,  the  sense  which  their  author  intended  to  con 
vey,  and  of  enabling  others  to  derive  from  them  the 
same  idea  which  the  author  intended  to  convey." 
Construction,  on  the  other  hand,  is  regarded  as  the 


"LEGAL   AND    POLITICAL   HERMENEUTICS "        131 

drawing  of  conclusions  respecting  subjects  that  lie 
beyond  the  direct  expression  of  the  text.  He  com 
pared  his  style  in  the  "  Hermeneutics "  to  that  of  a 
series  of  recipes  in  a  cookery  book.  ^ 

He  adds  also  a  few  rules  on  the  interpretation  and 
construction  of  constitutions.  Written  instruments  of 
government,  Lieber  claims,  should  be  construed  closely, 
because  their  words  have  been  well-weighed,  and  be 
cause  they  form  the  great  contract  between  the  people 
at  large.  This  he  thinks  is  especially  important  in 
federal  constitutions,  which  distinctly  pronounce  that 
the  authority  and  power  granted  therein  is  all  that 
is  granted,  and  that  nothing  shall  be  considered  as 
granted,  except  what  is  mentioned,  as  is  the  case  with'' 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

Lieber  was  the  first  to  give  expression   to  many  of 
the  principles  contained  in   the  "  Legal   and    Political 
Hermeneutics/jand  he  entered  a  difficult  field  in  which 
there  was  much  doubt,  but  little  intelligent  conclusion. 
[His  conclusions  soon  became  familiar  political  truths,    u- 
and  the  book  served  as  a  guide  for  judges  and  states 
men;   while  it  also  found  its  way  as  a  text-book  into 
the  colleges  and  universities/'    Chancellor  Kent  called 
this  work,  "a  treatise  replete  with   accurate  logic,  and 
clear  and  sound  principles  of  interpretation,  applicable 

1  In  1880,  a  revised  edition  of  the  "Legal  and  Political  Hermeneutics" 
was  prepared  by  W.  G.  Hammond,  professor  of  law  in  the  Iowa  State 
University. 


132 


FRANCIS   LIEBER 


to  the  duties  of  the  lawgiver,  and  the  science  of  juris 
prudence."  Professor  Greenleaf  and  Rufus  Choate  com 
mended  it  in  the  highest  terms,  while  Henry  Clay 
declared  that  "  no  one  can  come  out  of  the  perusal  of 
the  treatise  without  finding  himself  better  prepared  than 
he  was  before  to  expound  any  writing  or  instrument 
which  he  may  be  called  upon  to  consider." 

Lieber's  best  known  and  greatest  contribution  to  the 
literature  of  political  science  is  his  work  on  V  Civil  Lib- 

V  r   I  L- 

erty  and  Self-povernment,"1  which  appeared  in  1853. 
This  treatise  is  a  fitting  monument  to  the  struggles  for 
liberty  in  every  land  and  age,  but  it  is  especially  appro 
priate  to  the  close  of  our  first  half-century.  During 
this  period,  the  love  of  liberty  became  a  universal  aspi 
ration  among  mankind,  and  the  political  societies  of 
the  world  adopted  hundreds  of  written  constitutions. 
While  only  a  few  of  those  constitutions  have  survived, 
they  all  serve  to  illustrate  the  character  of  the  age. 
Lieber  compared  the  time  to  the  epoch  of  the  Refor 
mation.  "  Every  marked  struggle  in  the  progress  of 
civilization,"  he  said,  "  has  its  period  of  convulsion." 
While  patriots  had  fought  and  bled  for  great  ideas,  the 
political  institutions  of  the  world  were  not  yet  in  a 
settled  condition.  In  expounding  the  real  nature  of 


1  On  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  Philadelphia :  Lippincott, 
2  vols.,  8vo.  —  London:  Bentley,  I  vol.,  8vo.  — 1859,  2d  ed.,  enlarged  and 
corrected,  2  vols.,  8vo., — 1874,  3d  and  revised  edition,  by  T.  D.  Woolsey, 
pp.  622,  i  vol.,  8vo 


CIVIL  LIBERTY  133 

political  liberty,  he  tfeas  led  mankind  through  a  maze 
of  doubts  and  false  principles  to  the  clear  light  of  truth. 
The  "Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government"  bears  testi 
mony  in  almost  every  page  of  the  great  struggle  for  free 
institutions  in  Europe.  The  author  had  been  pro 
foundly  impressed  by  the  events  of  1848  in  Germany, 
while  his  disgust  for  the  new  empire  of  Napoleon  III. 
was  so  marked,  that  there  frequently  appears  in  the 
book  a  contrast  between  Anglican  and  Gallican  liberty. 
In  the  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  Lieber 
endeavors  to  answer  the  questions:  In  what  does 
civil  liberty  consist?  How  is  it  maintained?  What 
are  its  means  of  self-diffusion,  and  under  what  forms 
do  its  chief  dangers  present  themselves?  In  answer 
ing  these  questions,  he  discusses  ancient  and  modern 
liberty,  ancient,  mediaeval,  and  modern  states,  national 
independence  and  personal  liberty,  the  rights  of  per 
sonal  locomotion,  emigration  and  petition,  liberty  of 
conscience,  supremacy  of  law,  taxation,  division  of 
power,  representative  government,  the  independence 
of  the  judiciary,  parliamentary  law,  institutional  self- 
government,  etc.  ,  The  term  "civil  liberty"  is  defined  - 
as  a  protection  or  check  against  undue  interference, 
whether  this  be  Jrom  individuals,  from  masses,  or 
from  government.1 j  This  definition  includes  certain 
measures,  institutions,  and  guarantees  or  forms  of 
government,  by  which  the  people  secure  an  unim- 

1  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  p.  40. 


134  FRANCIS   LIBBER 

peded  action  in  those  civil  matters  which  appear 
most  important.  The  idea  of  Anglican  liberty  was 
entirely  his  own.  He  claimed  that  while  the  English 
had  written  on  the  Constitution,  he  had  treated  of 
the  elements  and  analyzed  the  amount  of  actual  lib 
erty  enjoyed  by  free  nations.  Anglican  liberty  he 
describes  as  that  system  of  guarantees  which  our 
race  has  elaborated,  of  those  rights  which  experience 
has  shown  to  be  most  exposed  to  danger  of  attack 
by  the  strongest  power  in  the  State.1  The  most  im 
portant  guarantees  enumerated  are  the  prohibition 
of  general  warrants,  the  habeas  corpus,  bail,  a  well- 
conducted  penal  trial,  freedom  of  communion,  the 
right  to  assemble  and  petition,  freedom  of  speech  and 
of  the  press,  liberty  of  conscience,  protection  of  private 
property,  and  subordination  of  the  military  power. 
He  next  considers  a  class  of  guarantees  which  relate 
more  particularly  to  the  government  of  a  free  country. 
Among  these,  are  publicity,  the  division  of  govern 
ment  into  three  distinct  functions,  the  representa 
tive  system  and  the  independence  of  the  judiciary. 
The  last  constituent  of  liberty  which  he  treats  is 
that  of  local  self-government.  This  he  calls  the  cor 
ollary  of  liberty,  since  the  idea  of  self-government  is 
founded  on  the  willingness  of  the  people  to  take  care 
of  their  own  affairs.  He  characterizes  Anglican  lib 
erty  by  union,  Gallican  liberty  by  unity,  the  French- 

1  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,'1  p.  54. 


CIVIL   LIBERTY 


'35 


man  wanting  the  government  to  be  a  solid  unit,  his 
only  concern  being,  who  shall  receive  the  power  which 
government  gives  ?  Much  prominence  is  given  to  our 
American  system  in  the  great  division  of  Anglican 
liberty.  Besides  the  guarantees  already  enumerated, 
Lieber  states  that  there  are  checks  and  guarantees 
peculiar  to  ourselves,  which  constitute  American  liberty. 
These  are  republican  federalism,  separation  of  the 
Church  from  the  State,  greater  equality,  an  acknowl 
edgment  of  abstract  rights  in  the  citizen,  and  a  more 
popular  cast  of  the  whole  system.  Besides  the  above, 
he  mentions  our  ballot  system,  with  its  devices  to 
prevent  intimidation,  the  fact  that  the  Executive  can 
not  adjourn  Congress,  that  no  ex  post  facto  law  or 
bill  of  attainder  can  be  passed,  and  that  we  do  not 
allow  our  legislatures  to  become  omnipotent.  He 
emphasizes  also  another  characteristic  of  American 
liberty  —  the  freedom  of  our  rivers.  While  in  all 
periods  of  history,  the  agency  of  rivers  has  been 
thwarted  by  man,  he  sees  in  America  a  navigable 
river  flow  of  forty  thousand  miles  entirely  free  to  the 
fleets  of  commerce.  Above  all,  he  states  that  our 
liberty  is  further  guarded  by  a  written  constitution ; 
that  while  England  has  an  accumulative  constitution, 
ours  contains  the  elements  of  certainty,  and  we  can, 
at  all  times,  feel  assured  that  we  have  a  positive  form 
in  which  to  trust. 

The  chapter  on  institutional  liberty  and  the   essays 


136  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

on  the  institution  were  original  with  Lieber.1  It  was 
his  theory  that  the  value  of  a  nation's  history  can 
always  be  tested  by  the  degree  of  institutional  energy 
which  that  nation  has  displayed.  This  part  of  the 
"  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government "  traces  the  love 
and  habit  for  liberty  to  their  source  in  a  vast  system 
of  institutions,  of  which  the  various  forms  of  local 
government  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
are  familiar  types.  Lieber  remarks  that  "  institutional 
self-government  distinguishes  itself  above  all  others 
for  tenacity,  and  a  formative,  assimilative,  and  trans 
missible  character" — tenacious,  for  although  the  hosts 
of  the  conqueror  could  destroy  cities  and  lay  waste 
the  fairest  regions,  these  institutions  remained  invinci 
ble  ;  formative,  assimilative,  and  transmissible,  for 
wherever  English  power  extends,  the  vital  character 
of  self-government  prevails.  Thus,  he  fittingly  calls 
England  the  great  mother  of  republics,  and  shows 
how  the  United  States  each  year  assimilates  several 
thousand  foreigners  by  means  of  our  peculiar  institu 
tions  of  liberty. 

/This  work  was  received  with  great  favor,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  In  1854,  it  was  adopted  as  a 
text-book  in  Yale  College,  and  the  same  year  Mitter- 
rnaier  began  its  translation  into  the  German  language. 
It  proved  of  great  value  to  the  judges  of  the  courts, 
the  Chief  Justice  of  Michigan  acknowledging  that  he 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  264. 


PENAL   LAW 


137 


could  not  have  written  certain  decisions  without  the 
"  Civil  Liberty."  j  Lieber  was  confident  that  his  fame  as 
an  authority  in  political  philosophy  was  now  secure. 
He  wrote  to  his  son  Hamilton :  "  I  know  that  I  shall  be 
acknowledged  by  high  authorities,  and  that  my  book 
will  be  cited  years  hence ;  but  whether  it  will  have 
an  extensive  sale  is  another  matter."  As  in  his  earlier 
writings,- he  endeavored  likewise  in  the  "Civil  Liberty"  \ 
to  unite  the  philosophical  and  the  historical  spirit.  In 
this,  he  claimed  to  be  more  successful  than  any  other 
writer  since  the  time  of  Aristotle.  • 

[_Lieber  was  interested  throughout  his  life  in  thev 
subject  of  penal  law.  When  de  Beaumont  and  de 
Tocqueville  published  their  report  on  American 
prisons,  they  requested  him  to  translate  it  into 
English,  which  he  did  in  1833,  adding  copious  notes, 
for  which  he  received  the  thanks  of  some  of  our 
leading  jurists.  In  1835,  he  wrote  to  Mittermaier: 
"  Do  not  fear  that  I  shall  give  up  writing  my  penology. 
It  is  one  of  the  thoughts  which  has  taken  possession 
of  my  mind,  and  which  will  occupy  me  until  I  have 
mastered  it.  The  whole  subject  in  its  elementary, 
legal,  psychological,  material,  and  historical  aspects 
is  clear  in  my  mind,  entirely  so,  and  I  shall  not  rest 
until  I  have  accomplished  the  work.  Still,  I  beg  you 
to  encourage  me,  for  it  does  my  soul  good  to  have  the 
approval  of  able  men.  I  hope  to  show  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  State  to  reform  the  criminal;  at  all 


138  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

events,  it  must  be  her  aim  not  to  make  him  any 
worse.  In  this  respect,  I  differ  from  Feuerbach,  and 
all  other  publicists.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  far 
from  taking  the  sickly  religious  and  sentimental  view. 
I  have  seldom  seen  any  good  result  from  exciting  the 
prisoner's  feelings  in  religious  matters,  but  a  great 
deal  of  good  has  been  done  by  bringing  him  to  a 
proper  knowledge  of  his  relation  to  the  Creator.  The 
experience  of  the  superintendents  of  prisons  confirms 
me  in  this  opinion."  The  proper  occasion  never  came 
for  Lieber  to  make  a  full  and  systematic  presentation  of 
his  thoughts  in  a  volume,  but  in  1838,  his  views  on 
penal  law  were  published  as  an  essay  by  the  Philadel 
phia  Society  for  Alleviating  the  Miseries  of  Prisons.1 
The  sentiment  of  this  treatise  is  well^-expressed  in  the 
phrase,  "mild  laws,  firm  judges,  calm  punishments." 
He  lays  down  forty-one  rules  to  govern  sound  punish 
ment,  the  leading  ones  being,  that  we  must  strive  to 
produce  the  greatest  effect  with  the  fewest  means; 
the  means  must  effect  the  object  we  wish  to  obtain; 
the  means  must  not  defeat  or  counteract  the  object  we 
strive  for;  punishment  must  proceed  from  the  State, 
and  not  be  left  to  private  revenge;  the  State  in  pun 
ishing  protects,  and  it  should  know  of  no  revenge; 
punishment  ought  to  be  calm  in  character  and  pos 
sessed  with  certainty;  the  State  in  punishing,  must 
never  sink  to  the  level  of  the  offender. 

1  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  471. 


OUR   CONSTITUTION 

[  Jn  1848,  the  friends  of  Prison  Discipline  requested  w 
Lieber  to  make  a  report  on  "  The  Pardoning  Privilege 
and  its  Abuse,"  which  the  legislature  of  New  York 
afterward  published  as  a  document.1  j  While  admitting 
that  the  pardoning  power  is  a  necessity,  he  agrees  in 
many  particulars  with  the  penal  reformer,  Beccaria, 
whom  he  quotes  as  follows:  "As  punishments  become 
more  mild,  clemency  and  pardon  are  less  necessary. 
Happy  the  nation  in  which  they  will  be  considered  as 
dangerous!  Clemency,  which  has  often  been  deemed 
a  sufficient  substitute  for  every  other  virtue  in  sover 
eigns,  should  be  excluded  in  a  perfect  legislation  where 
punishments  are  mild,  and  the  proceedings  in  criminal 
cases  regular  and  expeditious."  Lieber's  report  con-1 
tains  several  valuable  suggestions  for  a  reform  of  the 
pardoning  power,  some  of  which  have  been  embodied 
in  the  later  state  constitutions.  }  '  His  other  chief  con-, 
tributions  to  political  science  are  two  lectures  on  "What 
is  Our  Constitution  —  League,  Compact,  or  Govern 
ment?"  delivered  in  1861  ;  a  fragment  on  "Nation 
alism  and  Internationalism,"  written  in  1868,  and 
dedicated  to  General  Grant,  and  a  treatise  on  "  The  Rise 
of  our  Constitution  and  its  National  Features,"  'almost 
ready  for  publication  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His 
views  on  the  Constitution  are  thoroughly  national,  and 
he  looked  upon  the  United  States  as  a  nation  full  of 
vigor  and  strengthened  by  unity.  His  paper  on  "  Na- 

x"  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  p.  431. 


1 40  FRANCIS   LI 

v/tionalism  and  Internationalism,"; attracted  the  attention 
of  European  scholars,  and  the,  Italian  publicist,  Garelli, 
called  it  the  "  Golden  Tract."  ^  In  this  paper,  Lieber 
regards  the  national  polity  as  the  normal  type  of  modern 
governments.  While  the  city-state  was  the  leading  type 
of  antiquity,  and  the  feudal  system  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
he  characterizes  the  present  as  the  national  period,  in 
which  many  leading  nations  flourish  at  the  same  time 
under  the  protection  of  one  law  of  nations.  He  out 
lines  for  the  term  "  nation,"  the  following  comprehensive 
definition,  which  has  been  widely  adopted  by  later 
writers :  "  The  word  '  nation,'  in  the  fullest  adaptation 
of  the  term,  means,  in  modern  times,  a  numerous  and 
homogeneous  population  (having  long  emerged  from  the 
hunter's  and  nomadic  stage),  permanently  inhabiting 
and  cultivating  a  coherent  territory,  with  a  well-defined 
geographical  outline,  and  a  name  of  its  own  —  the 
inhabitants  speaking  their  own  language,  having  their 
own  literature  and  common  institutions,  which  distin 
guish  them  clearly  from  other  and  similar  groups  of 
people;  being  citizens  or  subjects  of  a  unitary  govern 
ment,  however  subdivided  it  may  be,  and  feeling  an 
organic  unity  with  one  another,  as  well  as  being  con 
scious  of  a  common  destiny."' 

1 " Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  221. 


VIII 


POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  CONTINUED  I  INTERNATIONAL  LAW 

MILITARY    LAW 

IN  considering  Lieber's  services  to  the  development 
of  international  law,  Dr.  Bluntschli  wrote :  "  Lieber 
was  the  first  to  propose  and  encourage  the  idea  of 
professional  jurists  of  all  nations  to  come  together  for 
consultation  and  to  establish  a  common  understanding."  l> 
He  thus  crowned  his  declining  years  with  the  noblest 
work  of  the  publicist  - — an  endeavor  to  secure  permanent  . 
friendship  among  the  great  nations  of  the  earth.  "  In 
ancient  times,"  he  said,  u  one  people  always  swayed  and 
led,"  but  modern  nations  exist  together  and  agree  in 
much,  having  one  alphabet,  the  same  system  of  notation, 
one  division  of  time,  one  mathematical  language,  a 
united  mail  and  telegraph  system,  an  international 
literature,  and  a  common  history  of  civilization.  He 
observed  that  the  process  of  internationalizing  is  now 
going  on,  and  with  it,  the  all-pervading  law  of  interde 
pendence.  In  describing  the  new  character  of  modern 
nations  he  wrote :  "  The  civilized  nations  have  come 
to  constitute  a  community  of  nations,  and  are  daily 

1 "  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol  2,  p.  7. 
141 


142  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

forming  more  and  more,  a  commonwealth  of  nations, 
under  the  restraint  and  protection  of  the  law  of  nations, 
which  rules,  vigore  divino.  They  draw  the  chariot  of 
civilization  abreast,  as  the  ancient  steeds  drew  the  car 
of  victory."1 

Lieber's  correspondence  during  the  last  ten  years 
of  his  life  indicates  that  his  chief  interest  was  in  the 
subject  of  international  law.  He  wrote  frequently  to 
Sumner,  Garfield,  Andrew  D.  White,  Judge  Thayer, 
Dr.  Bluntschli,  and  von  Holtzendorff,  proposing  a 
congress  of  all  maritime  nations,  to  deliberate  some 
of  the  questions,  relating  to  the  law  of  nations,  that 
were  left  unsettled  at  the  peace  of  Paris.  He  sug 
gested  that  each  power  should  send  two  jurists,  and 
he  had  in  mind  more  than  twenty  canons  that  might 
be  settled  by  such  a  congress.  He  soon  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  would  be  much  better  to  establish 
a  private  congress,  "  whose  work  would  stand  as  an 
authority  by  its  excellence,  truthfulness,  justice,  and 
superiority  in  every  respect."  His  contributions  to 
international  law  consist  of  the  following  essays:1 
"  The  Value  of  the  Plebiscitum  in  International  Law ; " 
"  The  Latin  Race ; "  "  Suggestions  on  the  Sale  of 
Arms  by  the  United  States  Government  during  the 
Franco-Prussian  War ;  "  "  International  Arbitration,"  and 
"  International  Copyright."  In  "  The  Value  of  the 

1 "  Miscellaneous  Writings,11  vol.  2,  p.  223. 
9  Ibid.,  p.  301. 


INTERNATIONAL   LAW  143 

Plebiscitum,"  published  in  the  New  York  Evening 
Post,  in  1871,  the  point  is  raised  whether  it  was 
according  to  good  faith  and  international  honor  for 
Germany  to  acquire  French  territory,  without  the 
inhabitants  of  the  respective  territories  having  ex 
pressed  themselves  in  a  plebiscitum.  Lieber  regarded 
the  plebiscitum  as  a  Bonaparte  innovation  and  a 
failure,  arising  among  people  the  least  expert  in 
international  politics.  In  his  treatise  on  "  The  Sale 
of  Arms  by  the  United  States  during  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War,"1  he  defined  contraband  of  war  as 
"  everything,  animate  or  inanimate,  deemed  at  the 
time  necessary  for  the  commission  of  acts  of  hostility 
between  belligerents  on  sea  or  land."  His  definition 
included  arms,  war-ships,  ammunition,  and  all  ma 
terials  indispensable  for  the  pursuit  of  war,  while  all 
materials  for  sustenance,  comfort,  and  necessity  were 
excluded.  He  took  occasion  to  offer  the  following 
suggestions  to  be  observed  in  international  polity :  - 

!An  act  of  Congress,  of  March  3,  1825,  authorized  the  President  to  sell 
injured  arms  belonging  to  the  United  States.  At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War 
the  government  had  a  large  number  of  muskets  on  hand,  not  damaged 
within  the  meaning  of  the  act  of  1825  ;  accordingly,  in  1868,  Congress  passed 
an  act  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  War  to  dispose  of  the  military  stores  on 
hand.  Although  President  Grant  issued  a  proclamation  of  neutrality  on  the 
outbreak  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  it  was  charged  that  the  vessel,  Ville  de 
Paris,  carried  a  load  of  arms  to  France,  sold  not  by  our  government  directly, 
but  through  intermediate  agents.  A  committee  of  investigation  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  reported  that  since  our  government  was  engaged  in  such 
sales  prior  to  the  war  between  France  and  Germany,  it  had  a  right  to  continue 
the  same  during  the  war.. 


144  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

1.  Let    all    privateering    be    done    away   with,    and 
acknowledge    private    property    of     citizens    belonging 
to  belligerents  on  the  high  seas  as  it  is  acknowledged 
on  the  land. 

2.  Adopt  the  rules  of  the  treaty  of  Washington. 

3.  Define  contraband  of  war  as  he  defines  it. 

4.  Let  it  be  proclaimed  that  the  law   of   nations   is 
the  supreme  law  of  the  race. 

5.  Protect   persons   and   property   of    aliens    though 
they  belong  to  belligerents. 

6.  Protect  internationally  literary  property. 

On  September  17,  1865,  Lieber  sent  a  letter  to 
Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  outlining,  in  a  formal 
manner,  his  views  on  international  arbitration.  This 
letter  was  called  forth  by  the  contention  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  over  the  Alabama 
Claims.  Lieber  was  opposed  to  the  practice  of 
choosing  monarchs  as  arbiters  between  nations,  and 
he  favored  the  plan  of  referring  international  compli 
cations  to  the  law  faculty  of  a  foreign  university.  He 
would  rather  trust  a  case  of  great  importance  to  a 
Hugo  Grotius  or  to  a  law  professor  than  to  the  ruler 
of  any  empire.  "  Great  universities,"  he  said,  "  have 
been  appealed  to  in  former  times,  though  it  was 
generally  in  theological  matters.  Within  the  different 
countries,  such  as  France  or  Germany,  they  have 
indeed  been  appealed  to,  and  still  are  occasionally  so, 


INTERNATIONAL   LAW  145 

at  least  in  the  last-mentioned  country,  in  civil  and 
penal  matters;  why  should  we  not  seize  upon  these 
institutions,  themselves  characteristic  of  our  own 
civilization,  in  international  matters?  The  adoption 
of  the  proposed  plan  would  be  a  signal  step  in  the 
progress  of  our  race.  There  is  no  nobler  sight  than 
the  strong  —  be  they  single  men  or  nations  —  laying 
down  their  strength,  like  a  sword  by  their  side,  saying, 
'We  shall  abide  by  the  judgment  of  the  just;  let 
justice  be  done.'" 

Lieber  realized  the  necessity  of  bringing  emigration 
and  immigration  within  the  domain  of  international 
law  by  special  treaties.  While  admitting  that  emigra 
tion  is  one  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  man,  he  claimed 
that  the  State,  by  its  attributes  of  national  sovereignty, 
has  the  right  to  regulate,  or  even  to  prohibit  immi 
gration  in  cases  of  great  necessity.  In  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Bluntschli,  he  proposed  the  following  regulations :  — 

First.    Health  on  board  the  ships. 

Second.  The  prohibition  of  transporting  criminals 
or  paupers. 

Third.  The  appointment  of  international  officials 
at  the  chief  seaports. 

Fourth.    Good  treatment  of  immigrants. 

He  wrote  a  letter  to  Secretary  of  State  Fish,  urging 
the  establishment  of  a  National  Board  of  Immigration ; 
and  in  1871,  he  prepared  a  bill  to  establish  a  record 


146  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

of  naturalization  in  the  Department  of  State,  which 
Garfield  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
This  measure  required  that  a  record  should  be  kept 
of  every  declaration  of  intention,  and  of  every  final 
naturalization,  and  that  there  should  be  published 
annually  a  complete  list  of  all  foreign-born  citizens  of 
the  United  States  naturalized  during  the  past  year. 
While  the  bill  failed  to  become  a  law,  it  showed 
Lieber's  high  purpose  of  placing  immigration  under 
national  control. 

His  views  on  the  international  copyright  were  out 
lined  in  1840,  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  Hon.  William 
C.  Preston,  United  States  Senator  from  South  Caro 
lina.  Lieber  was  one  of  the  first  to  advocate  the  inter 
national  copyright  in  this  country.  He  was  familiar 
with  its  operations  abroad,  Prussia  being  the  first 
government  to  adopt  this  system.  In  1837,  a  law 
was  passed  that  every  country  might  secure  copyright 
for  its  authors  in  Prussia  upon  granting  reciprocity, 
while,  in  1840,  England  followed  her  example.  He 
justified  the  international  copyright  from  the  very  nature 
of  property  itself,  and  where  intellectual  exertion  is 
united  with  manual  labor,  mankind  are  all  the  more 
willing  to  acknowledge  the  individual  title  in  property. 
Literary  compositions,  he  claimed,  were  entitled,  beyond 
a  doubt,  to  be  classed  as  individual  property,  since  per 
sonal  and  intellectual  activity  appear  clearest  in  them, 
ieber's  services  to  international  law)jare  beautifully 


INTERNATIONAL   LAW 

described  by  two  foreign  writers,  Dr.  Bluntschli  and 
G.  Rolin-Jaequemyns.  "  Lieber  had  great  influence, 
I  may  add,"  writes  Dr.  Bluntschli,  ''in  founding  the 
Institut  de  Droit  International,  which  was  started  in 
Ghent,  in  1873,  and  forms  a  permanent  alliance  of 
leading  international  jurists  from  all  civilized  nations, 
for  the  purpose  of  working  harmoniously  together, 
and  thus  serving  as  an  organ  for  the  legal  conscious 
ness  of  the  civilized  world.  Lieber  was  the  first  to 
propose  and  to  encourage  the  idea  of  professional 
jurists  of  all  nations  thus  coming  together  for  consul 
tation,  and  seeking  to  establish  a  common  understand 
ing.  From  this  impulse  proceeded  Rolin-Jsequemyns' 
circular  letter,  drawn  up  in  Ghent,  calling  together  a 
number  of  men  eminent  for  their  learning.  This  latter 
proposal  to  found  a  permanent  academy  of  international 
law  met  with  general  acceptance,  but  this  was  merely 
a  further  development  of  the  original  idea  of  Lieber, 
which  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  scheme.  His 
notion  was  now  approved,  and  the  efficiency  of  the 
association  was  thus  assured  for  the  future."  \  To  this 
may  be  added  the  following  tribute  from  G.  Rolin- 
Jaequemyns  : 1  "  Lieber's  attention  in  late  years  was 
especially  directed  to  international  law,  to  the  future 
of  this  science,  and  to  its  practical  application.  While 
he  rejoiced  in  the  success  of  Germany,  his  native 
country,  he  did  not  desire  for  it  an  unlimited  empire, 

1  LitteWs  Living  Age,  vol.  117,  p.  125. 


l^g  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

and  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  advantages  which 
would  result  to  civilization  from  the  friendly  rivalry  of 
several  great  nations.  He  cherished  the  dream,  for 
the  realization  of  which  he  desired  our  cooperation,  of 
coming  to  Europe,  to  this  very  spot,  in  order  to  take 
part  in  a  congress  of  international  jurists,  who  should 
be  occupied  in  establishing  the  rights  of  the  people  on 
a  rational,  firm,  and  practical  basis."1 

During  the  Civil  War,  Lieber  not  only  rendered 
valuable  service  to  the  country  by  opposing  secession 
and  defending  our  national  institutions,  but  he  also 
made  a  permanent  contribution  to  the  science  of 
military  law.  He  was  frequently  called  to  Washing 
ton  for  consultation  in  the  War  Department,  and  in 
1863,  he  was  requested  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
prepare  a  code  of  instructions  for  the  government  of 
the  armies  in  the  field,  i  The  need  of  such  a  code 
was  severely  felt  during  the  first  two  years  of  the 
war.  The  conditions  prevailing  then  are  well  de 
scribed  by  Major  George  B.  Davis,  in  his  "  Outlines  of 
International  Law,"  as  follows:  "The  Federal  govern 
ment  had  succeeded  in  placing  in  the  field  armies  of 
unexampled  size,  composed,  in  great  part,  of  men 
taken  from  civil  pursuits ;  most  of  whom  were  un- 

1  "Under  all  circumstances,  the  memory  of  this  friend,  whom  we  have  never 
seen  in  this  world  but  through  the  eyes  of  the  soul,  will  ever  be  present  to  us ; 
and  whether  in  writing  or  in  directing  the  Review  we  shall  endeavor  to 
honor  him  by  being  faithful  to  his  motto,  '  Droit  oblige.'"  —  G.  ROLIN- 

J^EQUEMYNS,    IN    THE    INTERNATIONAL    REVIEW. 


MILITARY   LAW 

familiar  with  military  affairs,  and  so  utterly  unac 
quainted  with  the  usages  of  war.  These  armies  were 
carrying  on  hostile  operations  of  every  kind,  over  a 
wide  area,  and  questions  of  considerable  intricacy  and 
difficulty  were  constantly  arising,  which  required,  for 
their  decision,  a  knowledge  of  international  law  which 
was  not  always  possessed  by  those  to  whom  these  ques 
tions  were  submitted  for  decision.  Conflicting  de 
cisions  and  rulings  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  in 
different  armies,  and,  at  times,  in  different  parts  of 
the  same  field  of  operations ;  and  great  harm  not  in 
frequently  resulted  before  the  decisions  could  be  re 
versed  by  competent  authority."  In  order  to  remove 
these  difficulties  and  secure  unity  of  action  in  the 
field,  JLieber  was  commissioned  to  prepare  a  code, 
which  should  conform  to  the  existing  usages  of  war, 
and  contain  such  modifications  and  additions  as  the 
pending  conflict  might  require.  The  code,  after  re 
vision  by  a  board  of  officers,  was  published  by  the 
War  Department  in  April,  1863,  as  "  Instructions  for 
the  Government  of  Armies  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Field,  General  Orders,  No.  100."  The  use  of  these 
rules,  prepared  by  Lieber,  thus  became  obligatory 
upon  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  <The  diffi 
culty  of  preparing  this  code  is  evident  when  the  fact 
is  recalled  that  no  work  of  the  kind  then  existed  in 
any  language.  "  I  had  no  guide,  no  groundwork, 
no  text-book,"  Lieber  wrote  to  General  Halleck.  "  I 


150  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

can  assure  you,  as  a  friend,  that  no  counsellor  of 
Justinian  sat  down  to  his  task  of  the  Digest  with  a 
deeper  feeling  of  the  gravity  of  his  labor,  than  filled 
my  breast  in  the  laying  down  for  the  first  time  such 
a  code,  where  nearly  everything  was  floating.  Usage, 
history,  reason,  and  conscientiousness,  a  sincere  love 
of  truth,  justice,  and  civilization,  have  been  my  guides ; 
but  of  course  the  whole  must  be  still  very  imperfect." 
In  this  work,  as  in  the  "  Political  Ethics,"  and  "  Civil 
Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  law  is  founded  on  the 
basis  of  morality.  Throughout  the  code,  two  leading 
ideas  prevail ;  the  one,  a  desire  to  save  even  our  enemies 
from  unnecessary  injury  and  destruction ;  the  other, 
the  necessity  of  displaying  the  greatest  energy  in  the 
conduct  of  war,  so  as  to  speedily  bring  hostilities  to 
an  end,  and  restore  conditions  of  peace.  The  work 
is  much  broader  in  its  character  than  a  mere  code  of 
arbitrary  rules.  /  His  fondness  for  an  ethical  treatment 
of  great  subjects  is  shown  in  the  following  paragraphs :  — 

"  As  martial  law  is  executed  by  military  force,  it 
is  incumbent  upon  those  who  administer  it,  to  be 
strictly  guarded  by  the  laws  of  justice,  honor,  and 
humanity  —  virtues  adorning  a  soldier  even  more  than 
other  men,  for  the  very  reason  that  he  possesses  the 
power  of  his  arms  against  the  unarmed. 

"  The  law  of  war  does  not  only  disclaim  all  cruelty 
and  bad  faith  concerning  engagements  concluded  with 


MILITARY   LAW 

an  enemy  during  the  war,  but  also  the  breaking  of 
stipulations  solemnly  contracted  by  the  belligerents 
in  time  of  peace,  and  avowedly  intended  to  remain 
in  force  in  case  of  war  between  the  contracting 
parties.  It  disclaims  all  extortions  and  other  trans 
actions  for  individual  gam,  or  acts  of  private  re 
venge  or  connivance  at  such  acts.  .  .  .  Men  who 
take  up  arms  against  one  another  in  public  war  do 
not  cease  on  this  account  to  be  moral  beings,  respon 
sible  to  one  another  and  to  God. 

"  Modern  times  are  distinguished  from  earlier  ages 
by  the  existence,  at  one  and  the  same  time,  of  many 
nations  and  great  governments  related  to  one  another 
in  close  intercourse.  Peace  is  their  normal  condition ; 
war  is  the  exception.  The  ultimate  object  of  all  mod 
ern  war  is  a  renewed  state  of  peace. 

"Ever  since  the  formation  and  coexistence  of  mod 
ern  nations,  and  ever  since  wars  have  become  great, 
national  wars,  war  has  come  to  be  acknowledged  not 
to  be  its  own  end,  but  the  means  to  obtain  great  ends 
of  state,  or  to  consist  in  defence  against  the  wrong; 
and  no  conventional  restriction  of  the  modes  adopted 
to  injure  the  enemy  is  any  longer  admitted,  but  the 
law  of  war  imposes  many  limitations  and  restrictions, 
on  principles  of  justice,  faith,  and  honor." 

It  is  interesting  at  this  day  to  read  in  the  code 
Lieber's  views  on  slavery.  He  says:  — 


152  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

"  Slavery,  complicating  and  confounding  the  ideas 
of  property  (that  is  of  a  thing),  and  of  personality 
(that  is  of  humanity),  exists  according  to  municipal 
law  or  local  law  only.  The  law  of  nature  and  nations 
has  never  acknowledged  it.  The  digest  of  the  Roman 
law  enacts  the  early  dictum  of  the  pagan  jurist,  that 
'so  far  as  the  law  of  nature  is  concerned,  all  men  are 
equal.'  .  .  . 

"  Therefore,  in  a  war  between  the  United  States 
and  a  belligerent  which  admits  of  slavery,  if  a  person 
held  in  bondage  by  that  belligerent  be  captured  by  ;or 
come  as  a  fugitive  under  the  protection  of  the  mili 
tary  forces  of  the  United  States,  such  person  is  im 
mediately  entitled  to  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a 
freeman.  To  return  such  person  into  slavery  would 
amount  to  enslaving  a  free  person,  and  neither  the 
United  States  nor  any  officer  under  their  authority 
can  enslave  any  human  being.  Moreover,  a  person  so 
made  free  by  the  law  of  war  is  under  the  shield  of 
the  law  of  nations,  and  the  former  owner  or  state  can 
have,  by  the  law  of  postliminy,  no  belligerent  lien  or 
claim  of  service." 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  writes  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Bar 
rows,1  "  there  were  eight  states  of  the  Union  in  which 
slavery  was  not  abolished  until  two  years  after  these 
instructions  to  our  soldiers,  and  then  by  constitutional 

1  The  Forum,  July,  1898,  p.  562. 


MILITARY   LAW 

amendment.  But  the  paragraph  shows  that  Dr.  Lie 
ber  preferred  the  laws  of  humanity  to  some  enacted 
by  the  states,  and  sanctioned  by  the  Supreme  Court. 
He  succeeded,  therefore,  in  making  a  military  code 
which,  in  regard  to  slavery,  was  two  years  ahead  of 
the  Thirteenth  Amendment." 

/  Lieber  regarded  his  code  as  a  distinct  contribution  ^ 
by  the  United  States  to  civilization,  and  he  predicted 
that  it  would  be  adopted  as  a  basis  for  similar  works 
by  the  English,  French,  and  Germans.  The  greatest 
writers  on  the  law  of  war  have  accepted  it  as  a  stand 
ard  authority.  This  is  verified  by  the  testimony  of 
Dr.  Bluntschli :  "  These  instructions,  prepared  by  Lie 
ber,  prompted  me  to  draw  up,  after  his  model,  first, 
the  laws  of  war,  and  then,  in  general,  the  law  of 
nations,  in  the  form  of  a  code,  or  law  book,  which 
should  express  the  present  state  of  the  legal  con 
sciousness  of  civilized  peoples.  Lieber,  in  his  corre 
spondence  with  me,  had  strongly  urged  that  I  should 
do  this,  and  he  lent  me  continual  encouragement." : 
Lieber's  "  Instructions  "  are  published  as  an  appendix  ^ 
to  a  number  of  works  on  international  law,  and  they 
were  recognized  as  the  chief  authority,  when  the  Insti 
tute  of  International  Law  assembled  at  Oxford,  Sep 
tember  8,  1880,  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  a  manual 
of  the  laws  of  war  on  Iand7\ 

Major  George  B.  Davis  claims  that,  since  the  code 

1  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  13. 


154  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

was  prepared  for  the  Civil  War,  it  does  not  give  a 
full  expression  of  the  views  of  our  government  on  the 
subject  of  external  war.1  The  best  authorities  claim, 
however,  that  our  Civil  War  presented  the  general 
conditions  of  an  international  war ;  and  that  during 
the  Franco- Prussian  War  there  was  but  one  case  that 
could  not  be  settled  by  the  rules  of  Lieber's  "  Instruc 
tions."  2  The  code  is  still  in  use,  and  it  was  reprinted 
and  issued  to  the  army  during  the  recent  war  with 
Spain.  !h  "tUe  \~itc 

Lieber's  other  chief  contributions  to  military  law 
consist  of  an  essay  on  "  Guerrilla  Parties  Considered 
with  Reference  to  the  Laws  and  Usages  of  War,"  pre 
pared  in  1862  at  the  suggestion  of  General  Halleck, 
and  a  paper  on  the  "  Status  of  Rebel  Prisoners  of  War," 
written  in  1865.  Besides  preparing  these  works,  his 
correspondence  with  the  War  Department  was  volumi 
nous,  and  his  advice  was  sought  on  a  great  variety  of 
questions.  • 

1  ''Outlines  of  Internationa]  Law,"  by  Major  George  B.  Davis,  p.  397. 

2  The  Forum,  July,  1898,  p.  558. 


IX 

s 

LIEBER    AS     AN     AMERICAN  OPINION     OF     ENGLAND,    GER 
MANY,      AND      FRANCE   HIS      ATTITUDE      ON      PARTISAN 

QUESTIONS 

JUDGE  THAYER,  of  Philadelphia,  remarks  that 
Lieber  was  a  thorough  American  in  all  his  feel 
ings,  —  as  much  so  as  if  he  had  been  born  here.1  He 
admired  both  America  and  England,  for  he  believed 
in  a  republican  government,  as  organized  in  the  in 
stitutions  of  these  countries.  And  yet  his  love  for 
Germany  continued  throughout  his  life.  On  one  oc 
casion  he  wrote :  "  Can  you  not  imagine  how  deeply 
a  native  German  must  feel  again  that  bitter  truth 
which  envenoms  his  whole  life,  the  sad  historic  fact 
that  Germany  has  been  cheated  out  of  her  noble  birth 
right  of  being  a  great  and  manly  nation,  —  that  God 
called  her  to  be  one  of  the  disposing  earthly  gods, 
when  they  sit  in  council  and  determine  history,  but 
that  man  made  her  a  waiting  servant?"2  At  another 
time  he  said :  "  Germany's  greatest  glory  is  her  authors, 
but  alas !  how  much  is  wanting  to  the  greatest  glory 

1  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  I,  p.  35. 

2  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  274. 

155 


156  *  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

of  that  noble  nation,  because  her  law  and  government 
are  not  glorious."  During  the  Franco-Prussian  War  he 
yearned  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  his  native  country, 
and  on  July  22,  1870,  he  wrote:  "  I  am  writing  at  ran 
dom,  for  my  very  soul  is  filled  with  that  one  word,  one 
idea,  one  feeling  —  Germany.  The  stream  of  blood 
which  will  flow  will  probably  not  be  very  long,  but 
very  wide,  —  wide  like  a  lake,  and  very  deep."  A  few 
days  later  he  again  wrote :  "  My  German  letters  confirm 
that  all  Germans  are  animated  by  the  noblest  feelings, 
and  are  ready  to  sacrifice  money,  life,  anything,  in  de 
fence  of  their  country.  The  fathers  of  families,  sup 
porting  them  by  their  hands,  refuse  to  be  refused, 
until  the  king  is  obliged  to  telegraph,  '  Accept  them/ 
and  judges,  and  civil  officers  of  high  station  volunteer, 
and  join  the  ranks.  And  I  sit  here  and  write  like  a 
dullard.  It  is  very  hard." 

Lieber's  admiration  for  the  institutions  of  England  is 
well-expressed  in  his  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Govern- 
ment " :  "  We  belong  to  the  Anglican  race,  which  carries 
Anglican  principles  and  liberty  over  the  globe,  because 
wherever  it  moves,  liberal  institutions  and  a  common 
law  full  of  manly  rights  and  instincts,  with  the  princi 
ples  of  an  expansive  life  follow  it.  We  belong  to  that 
race  whose  obvious  task  it  is,  among  other  proud  and 
sacred  tasks,  to  rear  and  spread  civil  liberty  over  vast 
regions  in  every  part  of  the  earth,  on  continent  and 
isle.  We  belong  to  that  tribe  which  alone  has  the 


ENGLAND   AND   FRANCE  157 

word  '  self-government.'  We  belong  to  that  nation  whose 
great  lot  it  is  to  be  placed,  with  the  full  inheritance 
of  freedom,  on  the  freshest  soil  in  the  noblest  site  be 
tween  Europe  and  Asia,  a  nation  young,  whose  kin 
dred  countries,  powerful  in  wealth,  armies  and  intellect, 
are  old.  It  is  a  period  when  a  peaceful  migration  of 
nations,  similar  in  the  weight  of  numbers  to  the  war 
like  migration  of  the  Middle  Ages,  pours  its  crowd  into 
the  lap  of  our  more  favored  land,  there  to  try,  and  at 
times,  to  test  to  the  utmost,  our  institutions  —  institu 
tions  which  are  our  foundations  and  buttresses,  as  the 
law  which  they  embody  is  our  sole  and  sovereign 
master." 

Lieber's  hatred  for  French  institutions  was  intense, 
and  the  forms  of  imperatorial  sovereignty  prevailing 
in  France  appeared  to  him  worse  than  those  of  Russia. 
On  April  21,  1848,  he  wrote  to  Charles  Sumner:  "I 
do  not  believe  in  a  French  republic.  They  will  have 
a  kingless  government,  indeed,  for  some  years,  perhaps 
a  lustrum;  but  it  cannot  be  a  republic,  because  they 
have  no  institutions  for  it ;  they  seek  republicanism  in 
a  wrong  place,  and  they  dabble  in  generalities.  Beau 
tifully  as  Lamartine's  proclamations  are  written,  and 
noble  as  some,  perhaps  most,  sentiments  in  them  are, 
they  contain  also  many  radical  follies.  The  ease  with 
which  the  republic  has  been  proclaimed  and  received 
bodes  ill  for  its  permanency.  It  reminds  one  of  the 
change  of  a  Parisian  fashion.  I  plucked  Louis  Phi- 


158  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

lippe  long  ago  out  of  my  heart,  and  have  long  con 
sidered  Guizot  like  a  moth  bent  on  rushing  into  the 
flame.  I  allow  that  there  was  cause  for  an  emeute, 
but  nothing  has  shown  me  yet  that  there  was  cause 
for  a  revolution."  Lieber  had  no  confidence  whatever 
in  the  doctrine,  "  Vox  populi  vox  Dei,"  once  so  popular 
in  France.  He  claimed  that  it  was  unrepublican,  and 
that  no  true  friend  of  freedom  would  wish  to  be  in 
sulted  by  the  supposition  that  he  believes  each  human 
individual  an  erring  man,  and  that  nevertheless  the 
united  clamor  of  erring  man  has  a  character  of  divinity 
about  it.  He  believed  that  every  true  and  stanch 
republican  wants  liberty,  but  no  deification  either  of 
himself  or  others. 

As  an  American,  Lieber  did  not  become  a  partisan, 
although  in  his  time  our  country  passed  through  the 
most  violent  civic  strife.  He  could  not  endorse  slav 
ery,  and  the  people  of  South  Carolina  soon  realized 
that  he  was  not  one  of  them.  Referring  to  this  fact 
in  his  diary,  he  says :  "  Nothing  positive  has  happened, 
no  offence  given,  and  could  we  descend  to  it,  we  both 
agree  we  could  make  ourselves  the  most  popular 
people, — build  a  house  in  the  sand-hills,  smoke  our 
own  hams,  keep  two  horses,  —  no  matter  if  we  could 
pay  for  them.  Oh,  how  they  would  carry  me  in  their 
arms.  But  nothing  could  make  me  more  one  of  them, 
and  give  me  greater  renown,  than  a  pamphlet  written 
for  the  South,  especially  in  favor  of  slavery.  I  would 


HIS  UNION   SENTIMENTS  159 

sooner  cut  off  my  right  hand ! "  While  in  the  South, 
Lieber  was  prudent  in  his  utterances  on  slavery,  but 
he  was  too  manly  to  defend  it  as  a  positive  good. 
When  the  proposed  admission  of  California  as  a  free 
state,  led  to  a  secession  movement  in  South  Carolina, 
Lieber  wrote  to  Hillard:  "I  love  my  wife,  —  God 
knows  it,  —  yet  I  know  I  should  not  feel  her  loss 
more  than  the  breaking  up  of  the  Union.  What  a 
prospect !  What  a  nipping  of  the  fondest  hopes ! 
What  a  blast  to  Europe ! "  The  Union  men  of  South 
Carolina,  desiring  to  strengthen  the  national  feeling, 
resolved  to  celebrate  by  a  mass  meeting  at  Greenville, 
the  Fourth  of  July,  1851.  Lieber  was  invited  to  ad 
dress  the  meeting,  but  as  he  was  not  able  to  be  pres 
ent,  his  speech  was  read.  It  was  filled  with  the 
strongest  Union  sentiments,  and  was  widely  published 
in  the  papers  of  the  day.  About  the  same  time,  he 
made  public  his  views  on  slavery  in  a  series  of  five 
letters  addressed  to  John  C.  Calhoun,  touching  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  the  right  of  extending  slavery  into 
the  territories,  the  Southerner's  plea  that  the  slaves 
are  his  property,  etc. 

In  one  of  the  letters,  he  remarked:  — 

"  It  is  not  the  North  that  is  against  you.  It  is 
mankind,  it  is  the  world,  it  is  civilization,  it  is  history, 
it  is  reason,  it  is  God  that  is  against  slavery. 

"...  You   preach   that   the    Bible   is   the   book   of 


160  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

salvation,  but  you  are  obliged  to  forbid  millions  even 
to  learn  to  read.  Other  people  have  established,  lately, 
institutions  for  the  instruction  and  melioration  of  even 
idiots,  and  everywhere  the  subject  of  general  school 
education  forms  one  of  the  highest  questions  of 
national  policy,  but  you  must  condemn  millions  to 
ignorance. 

"...  Slavery  in  the  Southern  states  has  produced  a 
state  of  things  which  is  not  rare  in  history.  Indeed, 
every  great  change  must  probably  go  through  that 
stage,  namely;  when  the  minority  sway  for  a  con 
siderable  time  the  majority,  because  the  existing  state 
of  things,  which  is  to  be  changed,  is  so  interwoven 
with  ancient  associations  and  the  inmost  feelings  of 
the  community,  that  it  is  easy  to  raise  the  hue  and 
cry  of  heresy  against  every  one  who  thinks  differently 
or  doubts ;  and  timidity,  want  of  concert,  and  a  fear 
of  being  made  to  appear  in  favor  of  enemies,  keep 
the  majority  for  a  long  time  from  becoming  manifest. 
It  was  so  in  the  two  centuries  preceding  the  Refor 
mation.  But  what  a  gush  when  once  the  dam  was 
broken." 

Lieber  regarded  the  election  of  Buchanan  as  a 
victory  of  Southern  bullyism,  the  North  yielding  be 
cause  the  South  threatened  to  secede.  He  immedi 
ately  began  to  predict  that  the  Union  would  not  last. 
He  pronounced  the  Dred  Scott  decision  as  illegal, 


HIS   UNION    SENTIMENTS  r6i 

unjuridical,  unphilosophical,  and  unethical.  In  the 
election  of  1860,  he  decided  to  vote  for  Mr.  Lincoln. 
He  believed  that  Breckinridge  was  supported  by  a 
corrupt  administration,  which  had  dealt  fraudulently 
with  the  Kansas  question.  He  felt  sure  that  were 
Mr.  Breckinridge  elected,  he  would  have  the  African 
slave-trade  reopened.1  Writing  to  Allibone  in  1860, 
Lieber  said:  "What  we  Americans  stand  in  need  of 
is  a  daily  whipping,  like  a  naughty  boy.  It  were 
very  wicked  to  pray  to  God  for  a  chastising  calamity 
to  befall  our  whole  nation,  as  it  fell  on  Prussia  in 
1806,  and  led  to  regeneration;  but  as  a  historian,  I 
have  a  right  to  say  that  when  nations  go  on  reck 
lessly  as  we  do,  —  dancing,  drinking,  laughing,  defying 
right,  morality  and  justice,  money-making  and  murder 
ing,  —  God  in  his  mercy  has  sometimes  condescended 
to  smite  them,  and  to  smite  them  hard,  in  order  to 
bring  them  to  their  senses,  and  make  them  recover 
themselves." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Loyal  National  League,  Union 
Square,  New  York,  on  April  n,  1863,  Lieber  ex 
pressed  his  Union  sentiments  in  the  language  of  the 
true  philosopher.  He  read  a  paper  entitled,  "  No 
Party  now,  but  all  for  our  Country,"  in  which  he  en 
couraged  all  Americans  to  support  the  government;  to 

1  "  As  to  the  African  slave-trade,  you  know  very  well  that  I  have  always 
maintained  that  there  is  no  blot  so  black  in  the  history  of  Europe  as  the 
establishment  of  the  negro  trade."  —  LIEBER  TO  HIS  SON,  OSCAR,  1860. 


1 62  FRANCIS   LIEBER. 

approve  the  Conscription  Acts ;  to  insist  on  a  speedy 
extinction  of  slavery;  to  abhor  the  secret  societies 
which  favored  the  rebellious  enemy;  to  resist  every 
partition  of  any  portion  of  our  country,  and  to  pro 
nounce  every  foreign  minister  accredited  to  our 
government,  who  tampered  with  our  enemies,  as  fail 
ing  in  his  duties  toward  us.  He  closed  by  urging 
every  American,  "  be  he  such  by  birth  or  choice,  to 
join  the  loyal  movement  of  those  national  leagues, 
which  is  naught  else  than  to  join  and  follow  our 
beckoning  flag,  and  to  adopt  for  his  device  —  OUR 
COUNTRY."  Lieber  presided  over  a  German-Repub 
lican  mass  meeting  in  New  York  City  in  the  fall  of 
1863,  and  when  the  news  reached  South  Carolina, 
the  Euphradian  Society  of  the  College  expelled  him 
from  honorary  membership,  and  his  bust  and  portrait 
were  removed  from  the  halls  of  the  College.  In  1864, 
he  was  invited  by  the  Fremont  men  to  become  presi 
dent  of  their  Campaign  Club ;  but  he  declined,  stating 
that  he  was  opposed  to  every  personal-election  move 
ment,  as  it  would  only  tend  to  weaken  the  forces  of 
the  Union  party.  He  believed  that  the  nomination 
of  General  Fremont  could  have  no  other  effect  than 
the  division  of  the  party,  but  not  his  election.  In  a 
letter  to  General  Halleck  on  the  presidential  situa 
tion,  Lieber  remarked  that  the  universal  support  of 
McClellan  by  the  anti-administration  people,  and  the 
apathy  of  the  loyal  people  for  Lincoln  had  brought 


HIS  UNION   SENTIMENTS  163 

about  a  condition  requiring  the  nomination  of  a  new 
man.  He  urged  that  Lincoln  should  withdraw,  and 
that  Grant  be  taken  up.  In  advocating  this  course, 
he  had  nothing  against  Lincoln,  but  he  realized  that 
individuals  wear  out  quickly  in  revolutionary  times. 
He  added :  "  We  must  have  a  new  man  against  a 
new  man,  and  we  cannot  have  him  without  Mr. 
Lincoln's  withdrawal.  Oh,  that  an  angel  could  de 
scend  and  show  him  what  a  beautiful  stamp  on  his 
name  in  history  such  a  withdrawal  would  be ! " 

Although  Lieber  was  so  firm  a  Union  man,  the 
Civil  War  knocked  rudely  at  his  door.  His  eldest 
and  most  promising  son,  Oscar  Montgomery,  marched 
under  the  flag  of  shame  and  laid  down  his  life  for 
the  cause  of  secession,  while  Hamilton,  who  had 
joined  the  Illinois  militia,  lost  his  left  arm  at  Fort 
Donelson.  In  a  letter  to  Hillard,  Lieber  described 
his  feelings  as  follows :  "  I  am  very  unhappy.  Oscar 
is  so  imbued  with  all  that  I  hold  worst  in  South 
Carolina,  that  hardly  anything  is  left  between  us  but 
the  thread  of  paternal  and  filial  affection.  I  enter 
thus  upon  the  last  stage  of  old  age!  Such  things 
must  have  happened  in  the  Reformation;  but  that 
does  not  mitigate  its  bitterness.  Unfortunately,  too, 
my  whole  life  has  been  spent,  and  my  very  profession 
obliges  me  to  pass  my  days  in  meditating  on  all  that 
is  going  to  ruin  in  corruption  and  violence."  Again, 
to  Dr.  S.  Tyler,  he  wrote :  "  If  you  ever  go  to  Rich- 


1 64  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

mond,  go  to  the  churchyard,  where  you  will  find  my 
hope  expressed  on  the  tombstone  of  my  son,  Oscar. 
He  fell  on  the  Southern  side,  and  his  two  brothers 
went  to  Richmond  to  place  the  tombstone  on  the 
grave.  They  have  fought  and  bled  on  the  Union  side. 
You  see  the  Civil  War  has  knocked  rudely  at  my  door." 
Although  Lieber  took  a  deep  interest  in  all  public 
measures,  and  followed  closely  the  current  of  politi 
cal  thought,  his  mind  was  not  adapted  to  take  a 
practical,  every-day  part  in  current  politics.  His 
heart  was  bound  up  in  the  welfare  of  his  country, 
and  he  could  not  descend  to  the  level  of  the  parti- 
\/  san.  He  had  a  popular  interest,  however,  in  the 

V  '•  '•^«. 

tariff  agitation,  which,  after  1840,  assumed  so  much 
importance  in  our  country.  He  was  a  firm  believer 
in  free  trade,  and  defended  his  position  on  this  ques 
tion  with  numerous  essays  and  lectures.  He  soon 
became  one  of  the  distinguished  champions  of  the 
cause,  and  was  styled  by  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
Robert  J.  Walker,  "  the  philosophic  head  of  the  Free 
Traders  of  the  United  States."  Lieber's  attitude  on 
this  question  was  in  direct  harmony  with  his  politi 
cal  philosophy.  He  was  the  apostle  of  civil  liberty, 
and  in  reviewing  the  industrial  history  of  nations,  he 
saw  a  direct  connection  between  civil  liberty  and 
commerce.  He  looked  upon  protection  as  the  first 
measure  that  nations  resort  to,  when  they  rise  to  civil 
liberty,  while  "  unshackled  trade  is  always  the  second 


FALLACIES   OF   PROTECTIONISTS  165 

and  higher  stage  of  experience  and  analyzing  reflec 
tion."  1  Civil  liberty,  he  claimed,  has  had  the  general 
effect  of  fostering  self-reliance,  and  of  quickening  the 
brains  of  men,  two  qualities  so  important  in  an  enter 
prising  commerce.  The  most  complete  exposition  of 
his  views  on  this  subject  is  found  in  "  Notes  and 
Fallacies  of  American  Protectionists."2  These  Notes 
consisted  originally  of  outlines  for  his  College  lectures. 
They  afterward  appeared  in  the  New  York  Even 
ing  Post,  and  upon  revision,  were  published  by  the 
Free  Trade  Society  in  New  York.  He  denounced 
protection  as  a  veiled  communism,  destroying  indi 
vidualism  and  seriously  interfering  with  production. 
Worse  than  this,  he  regarded  protective  tariffs  as 
"despotic,  often  tyrannical  in  the  extreme,  and  incom 
patible  with  civil  liberty."  He  hated  all  forms  of 
despotism,  and  feared  that  the  tariff  had  a  tendency 
to  disloyalize  the  people,  j 

He  interpreted  the  whole  course  of  modern  history 
as  assisting  to  increase  production,  exchange,  and  con 
sumption.  The  general  diffusion  of  industry,  the 
security  afforded  by  the  law  of  nations,  the  greater 
uniformity  of  ideas  and  concepts,  the  spread  of  reli 
gious  liberty,  the  wise  provisions  for  education,  the 
longevity  of  nations,  the  opportunities  for  investing 
the  smallest  savings,  the  rational  views  concerning 

1  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  I,  p.  325. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  2,  p.  391. 


1 66  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

interest  on  money,  the  honor  attached  to  labor,  the 
safety  afforded  by  freedom,  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
the  decreasing  waste  in  wars,  the  means  of  inter 
communication —  all  have  contributed  to  intensify 
exchange.1  In  closing  his  argument  against  the  pro 
tectionists,  he  says :  "  No  artificial  legislation  or  fanci 
ful  regulation  can  make  people  wealthier.  Exchange 
and  production  go  constantly  hand  in  hand,  and  all 
the  wisdom  and  knowledge  about  markets  and  free 
trade,  commerce,  production,  and  increase  of  wealth, 
may  be  put  in  the  short  and  inexorable  formula  with 
which  I  shall  conclude  these  notes,  to  make  it  possi 
bly  more  impressive  for  some  readers  —  namely :  — 

"  PRODUCT   FOR    PRODUCT  " 

His  lack  of  partisan  zeal  is  well  described  in  a 
letter  to  the  author,  from  Hon.  Andrew  D.  White, 
as  follows :  "  As  regards  taking  a  practical,  everyday 
part  in  current  politics,  I  never  thought  him  of  the 
build  for  that.  In  fact,  I  once  saw  a  curious  exhibi 
tion  of  his  inability  to  take  such  a  part.  He  had 
been  elected  a  delegate  to  a  State  Republican  Con 
vention,  and  came  up  to  Syracuse,  where  I  then  was, 
to  attend  it.  As  he  was  my  guest,  I  suggested  to 
him,  when  the  time  arrived  for  calling  the  conven 
tion  together,  that  we  should  go  to  the  hall  where 
it  was  held;  but  he  was  engaged  in  very  earnest 

1  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  458. 


LACK   OF   PARTISAN   ZEAL  167 

political  talk  with  me,  and  put  off  going,  probably 
with  the  idea  that  not  much  would  be  done  until  his 
arrival.  He  reached  the  hall  about  an  hour  late,  found 
it  in  all  the  noise  and  uproar  which  generally  attends 
the  sessions  of  such  bodies,  and  as  we  listened  to  a 
roll-call,  found  that  another  delegate  had  claimed  his 
seat,  and  had  been  admitted,  in  his  absence.  He 
heard  the  name  of  his  opponent  called  and  responded 
to,  said  not  a  word,  listened  a  little  longer,  then  pro 
posed  that  we  should  take  a  walk,  and  he  never  went 
near  the  convention  again." 


X 


RANGE     OF     HIS     STUDIES METHODS     OF    WORK EXTEN 
SIVE    CORRESPONDENCE 

AS  a  boy,  Lieber's  first  desire  was  to  become  a 
botanist.1  He  soon  abandoned  this  idea,  how 
ever,  and  continued  his  studies  in  the  gymnasium  in 
charge  of  Jahn.  At  Berlin  and  Halle  he  was  especially 
interested  in  the  higher  mathematics  and  history.  At 
Rome,  under  the  guidance  of  Niebuhr,  he  became 
further  acquainted  with  the  riches  of  historical  and 
political  studies.  He  was  also  an  accomplished  linguist 
and  was  familiar  with  nearly  all  the  European  lan 
guages.  He  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  English 
language  with  comparative  ease,  and  his  works  have 
so  vigorous  a  style  that  we  might  well  say  he  is  one 
of  the  few  writers  who  have  placed  political  science 
in  a  literary  form.  In  1828,  Lieber  was  deeply  en 
gaged  in  the  study  of  the  North  American  Indians, 
and  he  urged  a  plan  to  found  a  society  for  the  promo 
tion  of  the  study  of  the  Indian  languages.  In  a  letter 
to  Hon.  Albert  Gallatin,  in  1837,  he  emphasized  the 
great  importance  of  the  foreign  languages,  laying 
special  stress  upon  a  study  of  the  ancient  classics.2 

1  "Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  5. 

2  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  I,  p.  499. 

1 68 


METHODS  OF  WORK 

Lieber  had  great  physical  strength  and  wonderful 
powers  of  endurance,  thus  rendering  it  possible  for 
him  to  accomplish  a  vast  amount  of  work.  He  was 
below  medium  height  in  stature,  stout  and  muscular. 
His  intellectual  head  was  fitted  for  bronze  or  marble, 
and  his  countenance  indicated  the  great  man  that  he 
was.  His  well-developed  mind  was  made  still  more 
comprehensive  in  its  power  by  his  wonderful  memory. 
In  his  "  Reminiscences  of  Niebuhr,"  he  spoke  of  the 
memory  as  "the  most  useful  and  indispensable  of  all 
instruments  in  all  pursuits."  Lieber's  friend,  Judge 
Thayer,  relates  that  "at  one  time  in  his  student  life 
in  Germany,  he  allowed  himself  only  four  hours'  sleep, 
and  his  food  at  that  period  often  consisted  of  nothing 
but  bread  and  apples."  He  rarely  retired  before  half- 
past  twelve  or  one  o'clock  at  night,  and  was  up  at 
half-past  six,  for  at  seven  o'clock  he  had  a  lecture  every 
morning;  while  in  the  summer,  he  had  one  at  six 
o'clock.  He  was  never  idle.  During  his  last  impris 
onment,  he  composed  a  volume  of  poems,  "  Wein-  und 
Wonne-lieder,"  which  was  published  in  Berlin.  In 
his  diary,  the  following  entry  is  occasionally  found, 
"  Worked  from  eight  to  half-past  six  without  interrup 
tion."  His  habits  of  industry  continued  throughout 
life.  As  late  as  1857,  while  preparing  his  minor  works 
for  publication,  he  would  begin  at  half-past  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  remain  at  his  writing  table 
until  four,  with  only  ten  minutes  interruption  for 


170  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

luncheon.  From  his  earliest  youth,  he  placed  great 
value  upon  chronological  tables  in  his  studies.  While 
at  Halle,  he  amused  his  fellow-students,  who  often 
found  him  asleep  on  a  sofa,  with  "  Bredow's  Tables " 
on  his  face.  He  even  made  for  himself  tables  of  the 
development  of  special  great  and  important  laws. 
From  his  earliest  university  days,  and  even  previous 
to  them,  he  loved  to  lie  down  by  the  hour ;  hold  syn 
chronistic  tables  over  his  head,  and  let  the  mind  travel, 
collect,  and  find  threads.  Many  thoughts  which  struck 
his  hearers  in  later  years  as  he  uttered  them,  he  could 
trace  to  these  synchronistic  wanderings  of  early  life. 
Regarding  methods  of  study,  Lieber  wrote  to  his  son 
Oscar,  in  1840:  "Whenever  you  get  a  book,  you  must 
decide  whether  you  will  read  or  study  it  through  at 
once,  or  put  it  away  as  a  book  of  reference.  If  the 
latter  is  the  case,  you  must  read  the  contents.  If  they 
are  not  given,  look  over  the  index.  If  that  is  want 
ing,  you  must  glance  over  the  book,  so  that,  at  all 
events,  you  know  what  subjects  are  treated  of  in  the 
work.  If  you  put  it  on  the  shelf  without  this,  you 
might  as  well  not  possess  it  at  all.  Mark  this  for  all 
your  life ;  the  question  is  always  important  when  we 
possess  or  own  a  thing,  'Are  we  master  of  it?" 

Lieber's  studies  covered  a  wide  range  of  subjects. 
He  explored  not  only  the  secret  recesses  of  history,  but 
he  entered  other  fields  as  well.  While  preparing  the 
"  Encyclopaedia  Americana,"  he  found  it  necessary  to 


SHAKESPEARE   AND   MILTON 

make  a  careful  study  of  French  philosophy.  He  was 
a  great  admirer  of  Aristotle,  designating  him  "the 
greatest  human  intellect."  On  one  occasion  he  wrote, 
"Aristotle  forever,  but  Truth  even  for  longer  than 
that."  He  was  fond  of  poetry,  and  he  made  the  fol 
lowing  estimate  of  the  greatness  of  Shakespeare  to  his 
friend,  Hillard :  "  Do  you  know,  Hillard,  that  every 
year  I  grow  older,  Shakespeare  grows  upon  me  with 
increased  power,  —  by  successive  squares  of  the  orig 
inal  root,  although  I  do  not  become  in  the  least  de 
gree  more  indulgent  to  his  faults.  But  he  is  so  great, 
so  much  greater  than  Milton,  who,  I  cannot  help  feel 
ing,  occasionally  falls  into  what  I  call  the  Ciceronian 
style."  Lieber  compared  the  minds  and  souls  of  such 
men  as  Shakespeare  and  Aristotle  to  the  palace  of 
Diocletian  at  Salona,  within  whose  trusty  walls  later  gen 
erations  have  built  the  entire  city  of  Spolatio,  nestling 
there  with  its  dwellings  and  gardens  and  shops,  secure 
against  priests,  Turks,  and  other  ruthless  people.  The 
patriotic  blindness  of  Milton  always  made  a  deep  im 
pression  upon  Lieber.  Speaking  of  the  blind  poet,  he 
said :  "  Milton,  too,  was  the  first  who  made  liberty  of 
the  press  a  positive  subject  for  political  philosophy, 
and  expressed  his  opinions  openly  and  distinctly.  And 
how  perfect  was  his  language !  English  was  for  him 
the  lyre  in  Orion's  hands.  Therefore,  all  the  greatest 
orators  of  England  —  Chatham,  Burke,  all  —  took  Mil 
ton  for  their  example,  for  with  him  they  found  the 


I72  FRANCIS  LIBBER 

purest  English,  free  from  platitudes  or  bombast." 
Burns  was  to  Lieber  an  unspeakably  lovely,  tender, 
and  soulful  poet,  and  he  paid  the  following  beautiful 
tribute  to  the  Scottish  bard :  "  When  I  was  young,  I 
could  never  read  Plutarch  without  a  heart  big  with  tears, 
not  that  the  things  related  called  for  tears,  —  the  frame 
of  mind  that  sterling  book  put  me  into  was  one  of 
Wehmuth,  and  painful  longing.  Now  the  scene  is 
shifted.  It  is  Burns  that  affects  me  thus.  I  can 
hardly  read  a  line  of  his  without  that  joy-pain,  that 
soothing  grief,  which  fills  the  heart  of  man  in  such 
thousand  different  degrees  on  this  earth,  from  the  feel 
ing  evoked  by  the  very  first  tiny  white  floweret  in 
spring,  to  that  which  overwhelms  the  soul  when  we 
read  for  the  thousandth  time  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount."  Lieber  regarded  Goethe  as  a  thorough  ego 
tist.  The  Germans,  he  thought,  wanted  a  downright 
plain  prose  more  than  any  other  nation.  Speaking  of 
the  work  of  Lessing,  Goethe,  and  Herder,  he  said: 
"  They  have  done  much,  but  with  our  tendency  to  float 
in  the  abstract,  we  have  always  a  great  love  for  images. 
They  indicate  a  little  what  is  meant,  or  what  with  the 
author  himself  is  indistinct  and  foggy,  and  which  he 
would  give  up  were  he  obliged  to  speak  in  decent,  plain 
prose.  It  is  infinitely  easier  to  write  in  high-flown  lan 
guage  and  use  images,  than  to  use  sound,  plain,  strong, 
correct,  precise,  penetrating,  and  lasting  language." 
Lieber  criticized  American  literature  because  no 


EXTENSIVE  CORRESPONDENCE  173 

revolutionary  song  worth  talking  of,  was  produced. 
He  observed  that,  at  the  time  when  every  American 
seemed  to  feel  deeply  and  warmly  for  Poland,  not  one 
song  was  written.  He  remarked  further:  "  Why  look  at 
our  own  poets  in  our  own  struggles.  When  Webster, 
Clay,  and  every  one  wrestled  for,  or  against  the  Union, 
no  Longfellow  sang;  and  by  heaven,  there  was  a 
chance.  It  seems  that  somehow  the  Anglican  does 
not  know  how  to  seize,  in  poetry,  on  an  occasion,  and 
give  in  rhyme,  its  very  soul  and  savor."  These  illus 
trations  show  that  his  knowledge  of  history  was 
adorned  with  the  treasures  of  other  learning;  thus 
enabling  him  to  pour  out  profusely  in  his  works  the 
best  thoughts  of  all  ages,  and  make  even  the  pro- 
foundest  subjects  glow  with  the  richness  of  reminis 
cence,  and  the  transparency  of  historic  truth. 

Lieber  enjoyed  a  correspondence  and  acquaintance 
with  many  of  the  distinguished  scholars  of  this 
country  and  of  foreign  lands.  His  relations  with 
Humboldt  were  most  pleasant,  and  before  he  had 
met  the  great  scientist,  he  wrote  thus  to  his  parents : 
"  I  am  glad  that  you  sent  me  a  picture  of  Humboldt. 
In  order  to  admire  this  giant  as  he  deserves,  one 
ought  to  have  lived  in  both  hemispheres.  If  it  were 
allowable  to  use  the  term  for  any  mortal,  he,  more 
than  any  other,  would  lead  me  to  call  him  Humboldt 
Divus.  I  am  now  reading  the  last  volume  of  his 
works,  and  feel  an  enthusiastic  adoration  for  this 


174  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

priest  of  science ;  for  what  he  has  investigated,  dis 
covered,  and  accomplished  is  far  more  than  he  him 
self  could  ever  have  hoped.  I  shall  propose  to  Silli- 
man  to  try  to  get  the  insignificant  name  of  Rocky 
Mountains,  so  inconvenient  for  other  languages, 
changed  to  the  name  of  Humboldt  Andes."  During 
his  visit  to  Germany  in  1844,  Lieber  met  Humboldt, 
who  received  him  in  a  friendly  way.  It  was  chiefly 
through  his  influence  that  the  king  offered  to  Lieber 
the  chair  of  penology  in  the  University  of  Berlin.  An 
intimate  friendship  sprang  up  between  the  two  scholars, 
and  in  1859,  Lieber  honored  the  great  scientist  with 
a  memorial  address  on  his  life  and  character  before 
the  American  Geographical  Society.1  Lieber  often  cor 
responded  with  Bunsen,  while  Mittermaier  was  one  of 
his  warmest  friends.  It  was  Mittermaier  who  urged  him 
so  strongly  to  write  a  treatise  on  penology,  and  who 
translated  the  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government "  into 
German.  Lieber  had  a  large  circle  of  friends  among  the 
public  men  of  our  own  country.  Webster,  he  regarded 
as  not  sufficiently  truthful  for  a  Northern  senator,  lacking 
the  greatest  and  rarest  of  qualities  of  a  statesman  or  a 
ruler,  —  a  union  of  the  sense  of  power  with  the  nat 
uralist's  perception  of  the  pulsations  of  life.  In  com- 


1  "  For  the  young  who  hear  me,  I  conclude  with  Humboldt's  own  words,  in 
the  last  letter  he  wrote  before  setting  sail  for  South  America:  'Man  must  will 
the  good  and  the  great;  the  rest  comes  as  decreed.'"  —  MISCELLANEOUS 
WRITINGS,  vol.  i,  p.  410. 


AMERICAN    ORATORY  175 

menting  on  Webster's  visit  to  South  Carolina  College, 
Lieber  remarked  that  he  remained  cold,  torpid,  like 
an  alligator,  and  in  his  intercourse  was  absent  to  a 
degree  of  discourtesy  and  rudeness.  He  appreciated 
Webster's  oratory,  however,  and  on  one  occasion, 
wrote :  "  To  test  Webster's  oratory,  which  has  ever 
been  attractive  to  me,  I  read  a  portion  of  my  favorite 
speeches  of  Demosthenes,  and  then,  always  aloud, 
parts  of  Webster's ;  then  returned  to  the  Athenian ; 
and  Webster  stood  the  test."  Lieber  knew  Beecher 
quite  well,  and  in  1839  went  to  hear  him  lecture  on 
Burns.  He  was  not  pleased  with  Beecher's  oratory, 
remarking :  "  It  was  general  talk,  extremely  well- 
worded  talk,  still  talk,  ornamented  with  that  curse  of 
American  oratory  of  the  present  time, — something  to 
make  the  audience  laugh.  Woe  to  the  nation  that 
holds  these  things  to  be  the  highest  efforts  of  the 
mind,  and  they  are  held  to  be  such.  We  lack  as  yet 
entirely  in  this  country  a  set  of  men,  to  acknowledge 
and  stamp  broadly  and  deeply,  high,  substantial,  non- 
popular  merit."  As  to  Everett's  orations,  he  thought 
there  was  too  much  varnish  in  them.  He  was  also 
in  the  most  intimate  relations  with  Professor  Joseph 
Henry  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and  spent 
some  of  the  happiest  days  of  his  life  with  him.  They 
both  were  deep  thinkers,  liberal,  genial,  and  candid, 
and  they  stood  soul  to  soul  together  in  their  views 
on  many  great  questions. 


176  FRANCIS  LIEBER 

The  friendships  formed  by  Lieber  continued  true 
throughout  life.  His  intimate  relations  with  Sumner 
were  broken  off,  however,  during  a  period  of  eight 
years,  from  1853  to  1861.  One  of  Summer's  biog 
raphers  claims  that  the  estrangement  arose  from  the 
fact  that  Lieber  in  South  Carolina,  came  to  take  a 
milder  view  of  slavery  than  he  carried  there  from  the 
North,  and  that  he  dissented  altogether  from  Sumner's 
radical  treatment  of  the  subject.  Sumner  looked  upon 
Lieber  as  an  apologist  of  slavery,  and  grieving  over 
the  matter,  told  him  so  in  a  letter.  This  was  not 
agreeable  to  Lieber,  and  he  closed  the  correspondence. 
From  Lieber's  own  writings  another  view  of  the  con 
troversy  may  be  obtained.  It  appears  that  he  had 
dissented  from  the  views  in  Sumner's  Anti-war,  Fourth 
of  July  oration,  and  he  also  took  exceptions  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  was  elected  Senator.  Although 
Lieber's  objections  were  stated  in  the  most  friendly 
spirit,  Sumner  was  deeply  offended.  When  Lieber 
wrote  to  him  for  important  documents  for  his  branches, 
he  received  in  return  newspapers  with  articles  about 
ill-treated  negroes,  marked  with  thick  lines.  Lieber 
finally  wrote  to  Sumner  requesting  him  to  stop ;  that 
he,  living  in  the  midst  of  slavery,  knew  the  institution 
perfectly  well.  The  next  letter  from  Sumner  contained 
the  charge  that  Lieber  had  turned  a  pro-slavery  man, 
to  which  he  replied :  "  This  is  an  ill-requital  for  a  life 
actually  spent  in  the  service  of  liberty,  by  my  blood, 


QUARREL   WITH   SUMNER  !77 

word,  and  pen."  This  unpleasant  correspondence  was 
closed  by  a  letter  from  Sumner  in  which  he  reminded 
Lieber,  that  while  visiting  at  Longfellow's,  he  had 
made  the  statement  that  the  negroes  were  physically 
well-treated  on  the  plantations,  and  better  than  in  the 
West  Indies.  Lieber  did  not  reply  to  this  letter,  and 
for  eight  years,  the  estrangement  between  the  two 
scholars  continued.  This  difference  arose  from  the 
fact  that  Sumner  took  a  radical,  sectional  view  of  the 
great  political  issue  of  the  day,  while  Lieber  was  not 
a  partisan,  and  he  recognized  it  as  his  duty  to  treat 
public  questions  in  the  spirit  of  the  philosopher.  Sum- 
ner's  charge  that  his  old  friend  had  compromised  with 
slavery  was  without  foundation.  Lieber  was  hated  in 
the  South  because  he  did  not  defend  the  institution 
of  slavery,  while  from  his  earliest  boyhood  he  had 
been  an  apostle  of  freedom.  He  not  only  hated  op 
pression,  but  in  his  "Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Govern- 
ment,"  he  has  described  for  all  ages  the  immortal 
foundations  of  liberty  and  free  institutions.  Lieber 
spoke  of  this  unpleasant  affair  with  Sumner  in  the 
following  candid  manner :  "  Sumner  requires  adulation ; 
I  am  no  flatterer.  I  can  love  and  devotedly  love; 
I  feel  the  luxury  of  being  thankful,  and  the  delight  of 
admiring ;  but  I  am,  above  all,  a  man  that  loves  truth, 
and  adulation  goes  against  my  grain  whether  it  be 
applied  to  me  or  expected  of  me."  In  1861,  Lieber 
addressed  a  note  to  Sumner,  and  their  old-time  pleas- 


178  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

ant  relations  were  restored.  Sumner  learned  to  know 
the  character  and  abilities  of  his  friend  better  than  ever 
before,  and  he  frequently  sought  his  advice  on  impor 
tant  public  questions.  He  was  just  as  willing  to  return 
the  kindness,  and  he  assisted  Lieber's  sons  to  obtain 
positions  in  the  army.1 

Probably  the  most  intimate  of  Lieber's  connec 
tions  abroad  was  that  with  Dr.  Bluntschli,  of  Heidel 
berg,  who  honored  him  with  the  following  beautiful 
tribute : 2  "  The  intimate  personal  connection  in  which 
I  stood  with  Lieber  in  his  declining  years,  although, 
indeed,  through  interchange  of  letters,  and  not  through 
meetings  face  to  face,  was  for  me  a  constant  stimulus 
and  source  of  satisfaction.  This  relation  with  Lieber 
was  animated  and  strengthened  by  great  and  world- 
historic  events ;  first  of  all,  the  war  for  the  American 
Union,  from  1861  to  1865;  then  the  war  between 
Austria  and  Prussia  in  1866;  and  finally,  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War.  From  1860  to  1870,  Francis  Lieber, 
in  New  York,  Edward  Laboulaye  in  Paris,  and  I,  in 
Heidelberg,  formed  what  Lieber  used  to  call  a  *  scien 
tific  clover-leaf,'  in  which  three  men,  devoting  them 
selves  especially  to  political  science,  and  at  the  same 

1  Speaking  of  Sumner's  character,  James  Ford   Rhodes  remarks  in   his 
"History  of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850":  "His  faults 
were  venial,  and  such  as  we  might  look  for  in  a  spoiled  child  of  a  city  of  cul 
ture.     He  was  vain,  conceited,  fond  of  flattery,  overbearing  in  manner,  and 
he  wore  a  constant  air  of  superiority." 

2  "  Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  7. 


SCIENTIFIC   CLOVER-LEAF  179 

time  uniting  the  historical  and  philosophical  methods, 
combining  theory  with  practical  politics,  and  belong 
ing  to  three  different  nationalities,  to  three  states, 
and  to  three  peoples,  found  themselves  growing  to 
gether  by  the  ties  of  common  sympathy,  and  thus, 
figuratively  speaking,  representing  also  the  community 
of  Anglo-American,  French,  and  German  culture  and 
science.  The  personal  tie,  indeed,  is  now,  alas,  broken. 
Lieber  is  dead.  Laboulaye  had  already  virtually  sepa 
rated  from  us,  for  he  could  not  overcome  the  bitter 
ness  caused  by  his  feelings  and  experience  during  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  But  that  community  of  thought, 
science,  and  endeavor  which  we  represented  for  three 
peoples  and  for  three  civilizations  is  not  broken  up, 
but  will  broaden  and  deepen  and  become  more  fruit 
ful  as  surely  as  the  peculiar  spirit  and  individual 
forms  of  nationality  existing  of  their  own  right,  find 
their  true  harmony  and  highest  end  in  the  develop 
ment  of  humanity." 

Since  the  above  beautiful  words  were  written,  these 
three  publicists  have  closed  their  earthly  careers,  but 
in  our  own  country  there  has  been  erected  a  fitting 
memorial  to  them.  A  few  years  ago,  the  German 
citizens  of  Baltimore  purchased  the  Bluntschli  library, 
and  presented  it  to  Johns  Hopkins  University.  Lie- 
ber's  widow  desired  that  the  manuscripts  of  her  hus 
band  should  be  associated  with  those  of  his  old 
friend,  and  she  gave  his  papers  to  the  University, 


180  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

along  with  copies  of  his  various  works.  The  works 
of  Laboulaye  have  also  been  added,  so  that  "the 
community  of  thought,  science,  and  endeavor "  of 
which  Bluntschli  wrote,  is  now  perpetuated  in  the 
collected  writings  of  these  three  men  in  the  library  of 
Johns  Hopkins  University.1 

1  "  Bluntschli  and  Lieber  never  met  face  to  face ;  they  were  friends,  how 
ever,  by  long  correspondence,  and  by  common  sympathies.  Lieber  used  to 
say  that  he  in  New  York,  Bluntschli  in  Heidelberg,  and  Laboulaye  in  Paris, 
formed  a  scientific  clover-leaf,  representing  the  international  character  of 
French,  German,  and  Anglo-American  culture."  —  STUDY  OF  HISTORY  IN 
AMERICAN  COLLEGES  AND  UNIVERSITIES,  p.  180. 


XI 

RELIGIOUS    VIEWS PERSONAL    CHARACTER 

NO  one  has  ever  expressed  a  deeper  reverence  for 
the  Christian  religion  than  Lieber,  and  yet  he 
was  hated  in  the  South  because  he  was  not  a  bitter 
Calvinist,  and  because  he  attended  the  Episcopal  and 
not  the  Presbyterian  church.  Before  he  went  to  South 
Carolina,  he  was  represented  by  the  more  zealous  as  an 
infidel  in  disguise.  But  Lieber  was  not  only  a  Chris 
tian  believer,  whose  life  was  pure  and  consistent;  he 
ably  defended  this  religion  in  his  public  writings,  by 
showing  its  influence  in  the  course  of  history.  It  is 
true,  as  a  defender  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  he 
despised  all  attempts  to  coerce  the  conscience.  This 
is  shown  by  the  following  note  made  in  his  diary  on 
February  28,  1837 -,1  "This  morning  Professor  Jones, 
of  the  Theological  Seminary,  preached  in  the  college 
chapel,  —  hell,  eternal  damnation.  God  looks  in  de 
spair  upon  the  damned.  Such  positive  blasphemies 
were  uttered,  that  I  felt  excessively  sorry  for  having 
taken  Oscar  with  me.  The  idea  of  eternal  damna 
tion,  even  of  the  very  worst,  is  so  abhorrent  and  un- 

1  "Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber/'  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,  p.  115. 

181 


1 82  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

philosophical  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  me  to  imagine 
any  reflecting  man  that  believes  seriously  in  it."  To 
a  fellow-member  of  the  Faculty  of  South  Carolina  Col 
lege,  who  had  been  charged  with  teaching  unbiblical 
doctrines,  Lieber  declared  that  the  Bible  is  the  great 
est  truth  of  all,  and,  therefore,  finds  the  most  mani 
fold  misapplications  and  distortions.1  He  added: 
"  Natural  philosophy,  geology,  political  economy,  the 
lightning  rod,  vaccination,  the  disbelief  in  witchcraft, 
navigation,  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  taking  inter 
est  on  money,  printing,  civil  liberty,  making  roads, 
gardening,  astronomy,  anatomy,  the  belief  in  a  western 
continent,  a  proper  division  in  universal  history,  the 
abolition  of  the  title,  the  political  independence  of 
nations,  the  separation  of  the  Church  from  the  State, 
the  belief  in  spectres,  inquiries  into  human  language, 
the  annihilation  of  the  jus  divinum,  —  all,  all  have 
suffered  from  misapplications  of  the  most  truth-loving 
and  most  truth-preaching  of  all  books."  Referring  to 
the  action  of  Ferdinand  VII.,  who  through  the  influ 
ence  of  the  Spanish  priesthood,  had  abolished  the 
chair  of  natural  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Sala 
manca,  Lieber  exclaimed:  "A  fine  God,  that  of  these 
priests !  Whether  you  approach  him  by  reading  the 
Bible,  or  by  reading  nature,  you  are  alike  led  to  athe 
ism.  O  God  of  truth,  how  long  ?  how  long  ? " 

In   1850,  Lieber  wrote  an  essay  on  the  necessity  of 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber,"  by  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry,"  p.  240. 


RELIGIOUS  VIEWS 

religious  instruction  in  colleges,  in  which  he  held  that 
every  college  in  the  Union  would  be  essentially  defec 
tive  without  a  chair  for  the  evidences  of  Christianity 
and  biblical  knowledge  in  general.  Considered  purely 
as  a  branch  of  knowledge,  he  regarded  Christianity  an 
indispensable  element  of  liberal  education,  while  this 
kind  of  instruction  seemed  to  him  doubly  important 
since  man  is  a  religious  being,  and  if  true  religion  is 
not  imparted,  he  will  cling  to  a  bad  one.1 

Lieber  believed  that  without  the  Reformation  in 
England,  the  world  could  not  have  been  what  it  is, 
and  that  we  should  not  have  the  whole  body  of  essen 
tial  principles  of  civil  liberty  and  representative  gov 
ernment.  He  recognized  the  fact  that  the  moral  value 
of  the  individual  became  immeasurably  raised  by  Chris 
tianity;  that  it  was  not  confined  to  the  limits  of  the 
State,  but  that  a  new  territory  had  been  discovered 
beyond  the  State  in  which  man  is  something  impor 
tant  besides  being  a  citizen.  He  firmly  believed  that 
wherever  this  religion  spread,  the  individual,  moral 
value  of  man  was  acknowledged,  and  that  something 
beyond  the  State  was  preached,  so  that  the  State  now 
becomes  the  means  to  obtain  something  still  higher. 
The  following  beautiful  estimate  of  Lieber's  religious 
feelings  is  found  in  Scribners  Monthly  Magazine, 
October,  1873:  "He  had  known  sorrows  deep  and 
trying,  but  he  bore  them  with  the  philosophy  of  a 

1  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  2,  p.  525. 


1 84  FRANCIS   LIBBER 

thinker,  and  the  humility  of  a  Christian.  Nowhere  in 
Francis  Lieber's  great  mind  lingered  that  arid  unbe 
lief  which  makes  Gibbon  say  that  '  all  religions  are 
equally  true  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  equally  false 
in  the  eyes  of  the  philosopher,  and  equally  useful  in 
the  eyes  of  the  statesman.'  Francis  Lieber  was  a 
Christian,  and  when  the  angel  of  sorrow  brushed  his 
heart  with  her  wing,  she  but  added  a  new  tenderness 
and  a  profounder  faith  to  that  which  was  there  before. 
Sorrow,  to  such  a  mind,  is  but  a  visit  from  the  gods. 
Great  and  terrible  is  the  honor;  may  we  none  of  us 
be  found  unequal  to  it ! "  Darwinism  was  despised 
by  Lieber  as  a  wayward  and  repulsive  dogmatism.  He 
preferred  rather  the  cosmogony  of  the  unethical  Greek 
mythology.  He  had,  in  fact,  but  very  little  time  to 
devote  to  the  natural  sciences,  as  his  studies  were 
along  other  lines ;  but  he  was  intimate  with  a  number 
of  naturalists,  and  he  had  a  good  knowledge  of  their 
theories. 

Lieber  was  an  ardent  lover  of  the  fine  arts.  "  What 
will  become  of  the  world  when  there  is  no  Raphael, 
no  Apollo  Belvedere,  no  Angelo?  —  and  that  time 
will  come,"  he  exclaimed.  He  took  great  delight 
in  poetry,  flowers,  perfumes,  and  little  children.  While 
in  the  South,  he  was  frequently  visited  by  a  whole 
coachful  of  little  girls  from  the  Preston  house,  who 
would  bring  baskets  of  flowers  for  his  lecture  room. 
He  often  said  that  the  mob  of  riotous,  sweet  little 


LOVE   FOR  THE   BEAUTIFUL  185 

girls  were  very  much  like  the  flowers.  He  always 
had  flowers  on  his  desk,  and  one  of  his  students,  a 
son  of  Judge  Preston,  repeatedly  brought  him  roses. 
He  had  a  particular  weakness  for  delicate  perfumes, 
and  a  bottle  of  Lubin's  violet  might  be  found  in 
every  room  of  his  house.  Speaking  of  Lieber's  love 
for  the  beautiful,  Dr.  la  Borde,  in  his  "  History  of 
South  Carolina  College,"  writes  as  follows :  "  He  is 
fond  of  the  beautiful,  and  is  arrested  in  admiration 
whenever  it  is  presented.  It  is  beneath  the  dignity 
of  my  subject  to  say  that  he  will  almost  steal  a 
flower,  that  he  may  send  it  with  a  complimentary 
note  to  a  young  lady.  He  loves  to  look  out  upon 
a  May-day  when  the  earth  teems  with  buds  and 
blossoms,  and  how  responsive  is  his  heart,  with  its 
hopes  and  joys.  Shall  I  add  that  he  has  a  youthful 
fondness  for  the  society  of  girls,  and  that  no  young 
gallant  can  surpass  him  on  such  occasions  in  light 
and  airy  conversation.  But  I  must  not  forget  his 
sympathy  with  little  children ;  '  those  flowers  that 
make  the  hovel's  earthen  floor  delightful  as  the 
glades  of  paradise.'  He  will  play  with  them  by  the 
hour,  and  leading  the  way,  forget  his  manhood,  and 
become  as  one  of  them.  Does  this  not  speak  volumes 
for  his  heart  ?  Shall  I  say  more  ?  He  has  left  South 
Carolina  College,  but  his  affections  still  linger  around 
it.  He  loves  the  trees  under  whose  shades  he 
walked  for  twenty  years,  the  lecture  room  where  he 


1 86  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

so  long  labored  in  the  cause  of  knowledge ;  and  the 
ivy  which  he  planted,  and  which  now  spreads  itself 
in  rich  luxuriance  over  the  house  which  he  occupied, 
has  fastened  its  tendrils  upon  his  heart,  and  is 
entwined  in  everlasting  embrace  around  it." 

Lieber's  cheerful  disposition  made  him  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  ornaments  in  society  during  his 
earlier  residence  in  New  York.  He  spoke  English 
with  that  terseness  which  accompanies  its  acquirement 
as  a  foreign  language.  He  was  ready  with  wit  and 
repartee.  At  a  party,  a  lady  once  told  him  that  he 
showed  great  knowledge  of  English  in  his  ability  to 
understand  all  jokes.  "Yes,"  he  said,  "but  sometimes 
I  say  a  stupid  thing.  That  is  because  I  have  not 
yet  conquered  all  the  delicatesse  of  the  language;  the 
stupidity  is  in  the  language,  not  in  me."  On  another 
occasion,  he  was  asked  by  a  lady  for  some  informa 
tion  about  a  Louis  Quinze  dress,  and  he  answered 
the  question  with  a  profound  treatise  on  powdered 
hair,  concluding  as  follows  :  "  I  demand  for  my  wages, 
to  see  you  'en  Marquise,'  and  I  am  always  yours, 
whether  I  am  endusted  or  embooked,  or  whether  you 
are  envioleted,  enrosed,  or  enpinked." 

Lieber  possessed  a  nature  susceptible  to  enjoyment 
and  sorrow  alike.  Judge  Thayer  relates  that  on 
one  occasion,  when  the  competitors  for  a  prize  in 
Lieber's  department  of  the  Law  School  at  Columbia 
College  were  writing  the  prize  papers,  at  the  end  of 


PERSONAL   CHARACTER  ^7 

the  period  he  was  requested  by  the  students  to 
extend  the  time  for  one  of  their  number.  "  But 
why  ? "  he  asked.  The  answer  was,  "  He  was 
wounded  at  Fort  Fisher  in  the  right  arm,  and  can 
not  write  as  fast  as  we  can."  Lieber  turned  away, 
overcome  with  emotion,  and  could  only  nod  his 
assent.  He  was  possessed  with  the  keenest  sensibili 
ties  from  his  earliest  years.  While  a  student  at  Jena, 
he  journeyed  on  foot  to  Dresden,  living  on  bread 
and  plums  by  the  way,  to  see  the  Madonna  di  San 
Sisto  of  Raphael.  As  he  stood  before  the  picture, 
he  was  so  overcome  by  his  feelings  that  his  emotions 
attracted  the  attention  of  a  lady,  whom  he  afterward 
discovered  to  be  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  great 
Tieck.  She  spoke  to  him  and  encouraged  his 
sentiment.1 

It  was  a  source  of  much  regret  to  Lieber's  many 
friends,  when,  on  account  of  advancing  age,  he  with- 

1  Steffens  had  a  similar  experience  while  a  student  at  Freiburg.  He 
went  on  a  certain  occasion  to  Dresden  to  visit  the  art  galleries.  His 
mind  became  so  overwrought  that  he  almost  reeled  ;  but  when  the  guide 
led  him  on  to  the  picture  of  the  Madonna,  he  broke  down  completely. 
The  scene  is  described  as  follows  in  his  "German  University  Life"  :  "At 
last  we  stood  before  a  picture  of  uncommon  size.  A  woman's  figure 
seemed  to  be  floating  on  clouds,  and  in  her  arms  she  bore  a  child  whose 
face  was  of  strange  and  ineffable  beauty.  My  feelings  had  reached  their 
height.  I  could  bear  them  no  longer,  and  burst  into  violent  and  uncon 
trollable  weeping.  I  tried  to  govern  myself,  for  I  felt  that  every  eye  was 
upon  me,  and  at  length  I  succeeded.  And  then  I  learned  that  the  picture 
which  had  so  moved  me  was  the  most  celebrated  of  the  gallery,  the  Madonna 
of  San  Sisto,  Raphael's  great  work." 


1 88  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

drew  from  society.  It  is  related  that  at  a  dinner 
given  by  Mr.  Ruggles  to  the  Bishop  of  Litchfield  in 
1871,  Lieber  appeared  with  all  the  grace  of  former 
years ;  but  on  being  rallied  after  dinner  on  his  neglect 
of  that  society  which  so  eagerly  sought  him,  he  said 
with  much  feeling,  "  All  noble  things  are  difficult ; 
society  is  difficult  after  you  get  old."  Lieber  was  a 
good  lover,  and  a  good  hater  as  well.  He  once  de 
clared  to  Judge  Thayer  that  he  should  not  like  to  go 
to  heaven  if  Louis  XIV.  were  there.  Dr.  la  Borde, 
of  South  Carolina  College,  who  was  associated  with 
Lieber  for  many  years,  pays  the  following  tribute  to 
him  as  a  man :  "  Associated  with  him  for  thirteen 
years  as  his  colleague  in  the  faculty,  and  sustaining 
toward  him  relations  of  confidence  throughout  that 
period,  I  think  that  I  have  had  ample  opportunities 
for  forming  a  right  estimate,  and  that  my  judgment 
is  entitled  to  some  measure  of  value.  He  knows  his 
strength,  and  never  distrustful  of  his  powers,  always 
exhibits  a  spirit  of  bold  self-reliance.  In  the  ardor 
of  discussion,  he  may  become  too  dogmatic  and  per 
emptory,  and  act  like  one  who  never  shows  mercy, 
or  'gives  quarter.'  This  may  create  the  impression 
that  his  character  is  cast  in  too  stern  a  mould  to 
allow  of  the  existence  of  the  tender  and  sympathetic 
affections.  But  this  is  a  mistake.  His  heart  is  as 
large  as  his  brain,  and  endued  with  a  tender  sensi 
bility.  He  can  carry  out  the  lesson  of  the  poet:  — 


HIS   HOME   LIFE 

'to  feel  another's  woe, 
To  hide  the  fault  I  see.' 

I  know  that  he  is  kindly  natured,  free  to  forgive, 
and  incapable  of  malice.  His  personal  morality  is 
without  reproach,  and  he  illustrates  in  his  life  the 
doctrines  so  impressively  inculcated  in  his  published 
works."  * 

Lieber's  character  was  rilled  with  simplicity  and 
candor.  While  he  did  not  desire  notoriety,  he  thought 
that  his  fame  would  endure,  and  rest  mainly  upon  his 
published  works.  His  home  life  was  particularly 
beautiful,  and  his  wife  venerated  him.  The  interior 
of  his  residence  in  New  York  City  was  filled  with 
many  evidences  of  his  lofty  ideals,  and  it  is  well 
described  by  Judge  Thayer,  as  follows : 2  — 

"  Over  the  door  of  his  house  in  New  York,  he  had 
placed  Die  Studirende  Eule,  —  the  owl  studying,  and 
he  dated  his  notes  from  '  The  Owley,'  declaring  that 
he  bore  strong  resemblance  to  that  bird.  On  the  ceil 
ing  were  painted  these  words:  — 

Patria  Cara 
Carior  Libertas 
Veritas  Carissima. 

Over    the   door   of    his   library   hung   the   panel   of   a 
bench  saved  from  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  chapel 

1  "  History  of  South  Carolina  College,"  by  M.  la  Borde,  M.D.,  p.  408. 

2  "Miscellaneous  Writings,"  vol.  i,  p.  42. 


190  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

of  South  Carolina  College,  on  which  he  had  painted 
the  saying  of  Socrates,  *  All  noble  things  are  difficult.' 
On  the  seal  which  he  had  adopted  in  his  youth,  were 
the  words,  Perfer  et  Sperne.  In  his  library  hung 
what  he  called  his  Stella  duplex — William  of  Orange 
and  Washington,  engravings  of  which  he  had  arranged 
and  framed  upon  one  card  with  on  one  side,  the  motto 
of  William  of  Orange,  Sczvis  tranquillus  in  undis  and 
on  the  other  (Washington  having  no  motto  of  his  own) 
Tenax  et  Integer.  Another  Stella  duplex,  similarly 
arranged,  contained  the  likenesses  of  Hampden  and 
Pym ;  above  them  the  words,  Nulla  vestigia  retrorsum, 

and  underneath, 

MDCXL 

Claris  Civibus 

Probis  et  audacibus 

Heres  gratus  et  compos 

Libertatis  expugnatae 

Et  defensor. 

to 

"  In  his  bedroom,  he  had  busts  of  Plato,  Schiller,  and 
Alexander    Hamilton,  whom    he   greatly   admired,  and 
over  the  mantelpiece,  his  favorite — Hugo    Grotius." 
\  Lieber  died  suddenly  on  October  2,  1872.     He  had 

AMMP-  v 

been  only  slightly  indisposed  for  a  few  days  with  a 
cardiac  affection,  and  while  listening  to  his  wife  who 
was  reading  to  him,  he  gave  a  cry  of  pain,  and  almost 
immediately  expired.  His  death  was,  therefore,  a  se 
vere  blow  to  his  family,  and  its  announcement  was 
read  with  sorrow  by  multitudes  of  scholars  on  both 


HIS   INFLUENCE 

continents  to  whom  he  was  endeared.  The  funeral 
services,  held  at  the  Church  of  the  Incarnation,  on 
Monday,  October  7,  were  conducted  by  Bishop  Potter, 
while  the  following  distinguished  men  acted  as  pall 
bearers:  President  F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  ex-President 
T.  D.  Woolsey,  of  Yale,  Dr.  H.  Drisler,  professor  of 
Greek,  J.  H.  Van  Amringe,  professor  of  mathematics, 
Drs.  Detmold  and  Dwight,  William  Cullen  Bryant, 
Hon.  Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  and  Hon.  M.  Russell  Thayer. 
The  interment  was  made  at  Woodlawn  Cemetery, 
where  a  bronze  bust  by  J.  Q.  A.  Ward,  marks  the 
distinguished  publicist's  grave. 

One  who  best  knew  Lieber  declared  that  when  he 
died,  the  whole  world  sustained  an  irreparable  loss. 
Conquering  hardships  in  his  youth,  his  maturer  years 
were  filled  with  greatest  industry,  while  even  in  old 
age,  he  retained  the  powers  of  his  brilliant  mind. 
However  restricted  may  have  been  his  popular  influ 
ence  as  an  author,  his  opinions  and  writings  have 
been  valued  by  the  foremost  thinkers  of  the  age  in 
almost  every  land.  The  scholars  of  two  continents 
sought  to  honor  him  and  learned  societies  gave  him 
recognition.  He  received  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from 
Harvard,  and  the  French  Institute  elected  him  and  Arch 
bishop  Whately  corresponding  members  the  same  day. 
The  extent  and  depth  of  his  knowledge,  and  his  broad, 
manly  way  of  applying  it,  are  everywhere  illustrated  in 
his  works.  There  was  something  very  noble  and  kindly 


192 


FRANCIS   LIEBER 


about  his  way  of  discussing  great  subjects.  It  has  been 
charged  against  him  that  he  was  a  doctrinaire,  but  this 
is  one  of  those  unjust  flings  that  amount  to  nothing. 
While  strongly  grounded  in  the  best  thoughts  of  writers 
on  political  subjects,  he  was  as  independent  in  his  think 
ing  as  any  wise  man  is  likely  to  be.  That  his  politi 
cal  philosophy  was  largely  evolved  out  of  the  thoughts 
of  previous  writers,  for  hundreds,  —  nay,  thousands  of 
years,  is  true,  and  this  is,  indeed,  a  great  merit  of  it, 
as  it  is  of  almost  all  thinking  of  any  permanent  value 
to  rpankind.  The  Princeton  Review,  of  October,  1858, 
gives  the  following  excellent  summary  of  the  character 
of  his  political  works:  "  Lieber  is  a  man  who  stands 
on  the  altitudes  of  history,  and  not  on  a  mere  politi 
cal  platform.  His  work  is,  therefore,  based  upon  the 
grand  memories  of  the  past,  and  not  upon  the  shift 
ing  politics  of  a  day.  Most  political  writers  have 
looked  at  political  life  from  one  point  of  view  —  that 
of  their  own  times.  But  Lieber  has  looked  at  it  from 
every  period  presented  in  each  successive  cycle  of 
human  progress,  and  has  not  only  appreciated  the 
results  of  the  working  of  the  various  institutions,  but 
has  noted  the  growth  and  the  mutations  from  age  to 
age  of  the  institutions.  In  the  true  scientific  spirit, 
Lieber  brings  to  his  expositions  of  principles  all  the 
resources  of  abstract  reasoning;  well  knowing,  and, 
indeed,  so  declaring  that  all  progress  is  founded  in 
historic  development  and  abstract  reasoning.  While, 


HIS   INFLUENCE 


193 


therefore,  Lieber  lights  the  torch  of  science  at  no  lights 
but  those  of  experience,  he  adds  to  it  that  prescience  of 
reason  which  is  to  direct  the  statesman's  forecast  into 
the  future." 

r — — 

\_No  Right  without  its  Duties,  no  Duty  without  its 
Rights,  was  Lieber's  favorite  motto,  and  the  author 
has  endeavored  to  show  how  his  life  was  moulded  by 

this  principle.  \ 
o 


APPENDIX 

PROFESSOR  LIEBER'S  REMARKS  ABOUT  STUDIES  AD 
DRESSED  TO  THE  TRUSTEES  OF  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE, 
AUGUST,  1857. 

FOR  THE  HONORABLE  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  OF 
COLUMBIA   COLLEGE 

Remarks  by  Francis  Lieber: 

The  Board  of  Trustees  has  passed  a  statute  which  directs 
that  every  professor  shall  be  employed  fifteen  hours  a  week 
in  instructing  the  undergraduates,  or  three  hours  each  day. 

The  Seniors  belonging  to  the  undergraduates  are  to  receive, 
according  to  the  new  organization,  what,  for  brevity's  sake,  I 
shall  call  university  instruction,  partially  or  wholly  so ;  that  is, 
they  are  to  receive  lectures,  to  which  I  have  proposed  to  myself 
to  add  stated  repititoria,  or  stated  examinations  of  the  class,  so 
that  I  shall  be  able  to  keep  myself  informed  of  the  progress  of 
each  student,  and  give  the  proper  stimulus  to  taking  regular 
notes,  and  to  the  consulting  of  those  works  which  I  may  indi 
cate  in  the  course  of  the  lectures. 

There  is  to  be  an  additional  post-graduate  course  of  two 
years,  consisting  likewise  in  courses  of  lectures,  to  be  delivered 
by  the  professors.  This  is  an  addition  to  the  fifteen  hours  of 
instruction  to  be  given  by  each  professor  each  week  to  the 
undergraduates.  I  suppose  there  will  be  demanded,  say,  four 
lectures  delivered  by  each  professor  each  week  in  the  post 
graduate  course.  Now,  I  wish  to  show  to  the  Honorable  the 
Board  of  Trustees  that  this  is  not  feasible.  I  shall  restrict  my 


196  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

remarks  to  myself  alone.  I  have  conversed  with  no  fellow- 
professor.  On  the  other  hand,  I  believe  that  I  may  fairly  be 
considered  as  a  representative  of  my  colleagues.  At  all  events, 
what  I  shall  have  the  honor  to  state  here  is  the  result  of  a  very 
long  and  extensive  college  experience,  and  of  a  knowledge  of 
what  is  performed  in  American  and  European  colleges  and 
universities. 

I  have  never  in  my  life  delivered  the  same  lecture  twice  over, 
and  hold  it  to  be  one  of  the  first  duties  of  a  conscientious  and 
ardent  professor  always  to  adapt  his  lectures  both  to  the  spirit 
and  temper  of  his  class  and  to  the  current  events  of  the  times. 
Without  it  his  lectures  must  lack  the  true  inspiriting  and  inciting 
character.  They  will  turn  out  hollow  and  flat.  Routine  may 
give  some  information,  but  it  cannot  impart  and  infuse  true 
knowledge,  which  becomes  part  and  parcel  of  the  hearer's  self ; 
it  cannot  inspire  with  a  love  of  the  subject,  and  is  unable  to 
elevate  the  minds  of  the  hearers,  which  is  the  thing  desirable 
above  all  others  in  higher  teaching,  and  especially  in  America, 
and  most  especially  in  a  large  distracting  city  like  New  York.  . 

A  sound,  animated,  and  inspiriting  lecture  cannot  be  de 
livered  without,  at  the  least,  three  hours'  immediate  preparation. 
By  immediate  preparation  I  understand  that  preparation  which 
a  teacher,  fully  master  of  his  subject,  requires  to  arrange  his 
notes,  refer  to  works  and  manuscripts,  and  mentally  to  prepare 
his  whole  lecture.  So  that  two  lectures  require,  with  the  two 
hours  of  delivery,  eight  full  hours.  A  recitation  which  to  be  a 
proper  one,  requires  at  least  an  hour's  immediate  preparation, 
so  that  two  lectures  and  a  recitation  would  require  at  the  very 
least  ten  hours,  to  which  must  be  added  the  time  of  going  to 
the  college  and  from  the  college  to  the  place  of  lecturing  (say, 
the  Cooper  Institute).  In  one  word,  some  eleven  or  twelve 
hours  each  day  would  be  consumed,  and  consumed  with  intense 
activity  of  the  mind. 

I  hardly  ever  occupy  an  entire  hour  with  recitation  alone. 
Twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour  are  almost  always  occupied 
with  what  in  Cambridge  is  called  occasional  lecturing. 


APPENDIX 

But  it  is  one  of  the  sine-qua-nons  of  an  efficient  professor  that 
he  should  actively  and  ardently  study  several  hours  each  day. 
If  he  does  not  go  on  expanding  his  knowledge  and  widening 
his  mind  to  the  last  hour  of  his  professorship,  he  is  a  worthless 
teacher,  and  a  book  to  be  read  to  the  hearers  might  be  fitly 
substituted  for  him  at  greatly  diminished  cost.  A  professor 
ought  to  be  a  living  being  with  a  living,  that  is  an  active, 
expanding,  and  creative  mind. 

It  is,  moreover,  not  only  desirable,  but  in  my  opinion  a  neces 
sary  requisite,  for  a  prosperous  institution  of  learning,  that  its 
professors  sustain  and  increase  its  reputation  abroad,  and  con 
tinually  strive  to  elevate  its  rank  by  occasional  proofs  of  their 
intellectual  life  in  the  shape  of  works  and  other  compositions 
which  give  evidence  to  the  world  that  they  are  active  fellow- 
workmen  in  the  great  vineyard  of  knowledge.  The  reputation 
of  a  college  is  the  opposite  to  that  which  was  desired  of  Csesar's 
wife.  You  must  hear  of  it.  Even  the  mere  numerical  increase 
of  students  requires  it.  A  college,  to  enjoy  the  confidence  of 
the  community,  ought  to  be  heard  of,  and  ought  to  be  known 
to  the  whole  land  as  a  busy,  active  institution.  It  can  be 
known  thus  chiefly  by  the  publications  of  its  officers  alone. 

Where,  then,  are  the  professors  to  take  the  time  for  these 
necessary  labors  —  necessary  also  for  the  intellectual  progress 
of  the  professors  themselves;  for,  a  literary  man  will  soon 
become  a  passive  mental  voluptuary  if  he  does  not  from  time 
to  time  concentrate  his  mind  on  a  distinct  and  original  work 
intended  to  stand  the  great  test  by  publicity.  Without  this  a 
scholar  is  apt  to  collapse. 

In  no  university  that  I  know  of  —  and  I  know  nearly  all  - 
does  a  professor  deliver  more  than  two  lectures  a  day.     I  know, 
indeed,  of  none  where  this  is  done.      Sometimes  a  professor 
delivers  two  lectures  on  one  day,  but  then  on  others  none. 

In  South  Carolina  College,  where  I  labored  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  I  was  occupied  each  week  eight  hours  in  lectures 
and  recitations,  and  my  time  has  always  been  engaged  in  teach 
ing  or  studying  fully  and  uninterruptedly.  My  hours  of  rest 


198  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

are  never  more  than  six ;  for  many  long  periods  they  have  been 
less. 

I  have  made  inquiries,  and  the  answers  to  my  questions  show 
that  professors  in  other  American  institutions  think  that  two 
lectures  a  day  is  too  much  for  an  active  mind. 

I  think,  then,  that  three  hours  of  daily  employment  in  teach 
ing  in  the  undergraduate  and  post-graduate  course  is  the  very 
maximum  that  ought  to  be  demanded.  It  is  too  much  in  my 
opinion,  and  I  feel  sure  that  the  Trustees  will  find  it  so  after  a 
trial.  In  German  gymnasiums,  where  recitations,  as  we  call 
them,  obtain,  never  more  than  three  a  day  in  the  loiver  classes 
are  required  of  each  teacher,  and  these  classes  correspond  to 
our  schools.  I  know  that  in  American  schools  a  teacher  is 
frequently  engaged  six  or  seven  hours,  but  he  is  engaged  a 
great  part  of  the  time  in  the  passive  occupation  of  merely 
hearing  recitations,  and  what  are  the  consequences  ?  Nor  does 
the  Board  desire  to  establish  a  school,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
have  nobly  resolved  to  elevate  Columbia  College  in  a  manner 
proportionate  to  the  just  demands  of  our  country,  and  com 
mensurate  to  the  means  at  its  disposal. 

FRANCIS   LIEBER. 


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B.  Davis,  U.  S.  A.  New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers,  1887. 

DE  BEAUMONT,  G.  —  On  the  Penitentiary  System  in  the  United  States, 
and  its  Application  in  France,  etc. ;  by  G.  de  Beaumont  and  A.  de 
Tocqueville.  Translated,  with  Introduction,  Notes,  and  Additions, 
by  Francis  Lieber.  Philadelphia  :  Carey,  Lea  &  Blanchard. 

DE  TOCQUEVILLE,  A.  —  Democracy  in  America ;  by  A.  de  Tocqueville. 
Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 

Dix,  M.  - —  Memoirs  of  John  Adams  Dix ;  compiled  by  his  son,  Morgan 
Dix.  In  2  vols.  New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers,  1883. 

DOVE,  P.  E.  —  The  Theory  of  Human  Progression,  and  Natural  Prob 
ability  of  a  Reign  of  Justice  ;  by  Patrick  Edward  Dove.  Boston  : 
Benjamin  B.  Mussey  &  Co.,  1851. 

DUNNING,  W.  A.  —  Essays  on  the  Civil  War  and  Reconstruction,  and 
Related  Topics;  by  William  Archibald  Dunning,  Ph.D.  New 
York:  The  Macmillan  Company,  1898. 

FISKE,  J.  —  Appleton's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography;  by  James 
Grant  Wilson  and  John  Fiske.  New  York :  D.  Appleton  &  Co., 
1887. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  2OI 

FOLLEN,  E.  L.  —  The  Life  of  Charles  Follen ;  by  E.  L.  Follen.  Bos 
ton  :  Thomas  H.  Webb  &  Company,  1844. 

FOUR  AMERICAN  UNIVERSITIES.  —  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  Columbia. 
New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers,  1895. 

FRANCIS,  J.  W.  —  Old  New  York,  or  Reminiscences  of  the  Past  Sixty 
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1866. 

GARFIELD,  J.  A.  —  The  Works  of  James  A.  Garfield ;  edited  by  Burk  A. 
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R.  Osgood  &  Company,  1883. 

GARRISON,  WILLIAM  LLOYD.  —  The  Story  of  his  Life,  Told  by  his  Chil 
dren.  New  York:  The  Century  Company,  1885. 

GAULLIEUR,  H.  —  The  Paternal  State  in  France  and  Germany;  by 
Henry  Gaullieur.  New  York  and  London :  Harper  &  Brothers, 
1898. 

GOERRES,  PROFESSOR. ~ Germany  and  the  Revolution;  by  Professor 
Goerres,  late  editor  of  the  Rhenish  Mercury.  Translated  from  the 
original  German  by  John  Black.  London :  Longman,  Hurst, 
Reese,  Orm  &  Brown. 

GOODWIN,  M.  W.  —  Historic  New  York ;  by  Maud  Wilder  Goodwin. 
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GREELEY,  H.  —  Essays  Designed  to  Elucidate  the  Science  of  Political 
Economy,  While  Serving  to  Explain  and  Defend  the  Policy  of  Pro 
tection  to  Home  Industry;  by  Horace  Greeley.  Philadelphia: 
Porter  &  Coates,  1869. 

GRIMKE,  A.  —  The  Life  of  Charles  Sumner;  by  Archibald  Grimke. 
New  York  :  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Company,  1892. 

HAMMOND,  W.  G.  —  Legal  and  Political  Hermeneutics ;  by  Francis 
Lieber ;  revised  by  William  G.  Hammond,  Professor  of  Law  in  the 
Iowa  State  University.  St.  Louis  :  F.  H.  Thomas  &  Co.,  1880. 

HARE,  J.  L  C. — American  Constitutional  Law;  by  J.  I.  Clark  Hare, 
LL.D.  2  vols.  Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1889. 

HARLEY,  L.  R.  —  Francis  Lieber  :  The  Political  Philosopher ;  by  Lewis 
R.  Harley.  Illinois  Wesleyan  University,  Bloomington,  Illinois, 
1896. 


202  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

HENDERSON,  J.  C. — Thomas  Jefferson's  Views  on  Public  Education; 

by  John  C.  Henderson.     New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1890. 
HINSDALE,  B.  A.  —  The  American  Government,  National  and  State  ;  by 

B.  A.  Hinsdale.     Chicago  and  New  York :  The  Werner  Company. 
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reference  to  the  History  of  the  United  States;  by  B.  A.  Hinsdale. 

New  York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1897. 
HOLLS,  F.  W.  —  Franz  Lieber,  Sein  Leben,  und  Seine  Werke ;  by  F. 

W.  Holls.     New  York  :  Steiger  &  Co. 
HURD,  J.  C.  —  The  Law  of  Freedom  and  Bondage  in  the  United  States  ; 

by  John  C.  Hurd,  LL.D.    2  vols.    Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1858. 
HURD,  J.  C.  —  The  Theory  of  Our  National  Existence  as  Shown  by  the 

Action  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  since  1861;   by 

John  C.  Hurd,  LL.D.     Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1881. 
JOURNAL  of  the  Proceedings  of  a  Convention  of  Literary  and  Scientific 

Gentlemen,  held  in  the  Common  Council  Chamber  of  the  City  of 

New  York,  October,  1830.     New  York  :  Leavitt  &  Carvill,  1831. 
KENT,  J.  —  Commentaries  on  American  Law ;  by  James  Kent.    Boston  : 

Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1896. 

KENT,  W.  —  Memoirs  and  Letters  of  Chancellor  Kent ;  by  his  Great- 
Grandson,  William  Kent.     Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1898. 
KLEMM,  L.  R.  —  European   Schools;  by  L.  R.  Klemm.     New  York: 

D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1891. 
KRUSI,  H. — The  Life   and  Work  of  Pestalozzi;   by  Herman   Krtisi. 

New  York  :  American  Book  Company,  1875. 
LA  BORDE,  M.  —  History  of  South  Carolina  College ;  by  M.  la  Borde. 

Columbia,  S.  C. :  Peter  B.  Glass. 
LALOR,  J.  J.  —  Cyclopaedia  of  Political  Science,  Political  Economy  and 

United   States   History ;  edited   by  John  J.   Lalor.     New  York : 

Maynard,  Merrill  &  Co. 
LEWIS,  C.  T.  —  A  History  of  Germany  from  the  Earliest  Times ;  by 

Charlton  T.  Lewis.     New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers,  1874. 
LIEBER,  F.  —  The  Life  and  Letters  of.     See  Thomas  Sergeant  Perry. 
LIEBER,  F.  —  Manual  of  Political  Ethics;    by  Francis  Lieber,  LL.D. 
2  vols.     Second  edition,  revised.     Edited  by  Theodore  D.  Wool- 
sey.     Philadelphia:  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  1890. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  203 

LIEBER,  F.  —  Legal  and   Political  Hermeneutics ;   by  Francis  Lieber. 

Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co. 

— — _Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government ;  by  Francis  Lieber.  Third 
edition,  revised.  Edited  by  Theodore  D.  Woolsey.  Philadelphia  : 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  1891. 

Miscellaneous  Writings  :   Reminiscences,  Addresses,  and  Essays ; 

by  Francis  Lieber,  LL.D.     Edited  by  Daniel  C.  Oilman.     Phila 
delphia :  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  1881. 

A  Constitution  and  Plan  for  Girard  College  for  Orphans,  with  an 

Introduction  by  Francis   Lieber.     Philadelphia :    Carey,   Lea  & 
Blanchard,  1834. 

-  Encyclopaedia  Americana.     Edited  by  Francis  Lieber.     13  vols. 
"""Philadelphia :  Carey,  1835. 

Letters  to  a  Gentleman  in  Germany  on  a  Trip  to  Niagara.  Phila 
delphia;  Carey,  Lea  &  Blanchard,  1835. 

Tagebuch    meines    Aufenthaltes    in    Griechenland   wahrend    de 

Monate   Januar,   Februar,  und  Marz,   im  Jahre  1822.     Leipzig: 
Brockhaus,  1823. 

The  Relation  Between  Education  and  Crime ;  by  Francis  Lieber. 

Philadelphia :  Carey,  1832. 

No  Party  Now,  But  All  for  Our  Country  :  An  Address  by  Francis 

Lieber,  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Loyal  National  League,  Union 
Square,  New  York,  April  n,  1863. 

LIEBER,  G.  N.  —  The  Use  of  the  Army  in  Aid  of  the  Civil  Power ;  by 
G.  Norman  Lieber,  Judge-Advocate  General  U.  S.  Army.  Wash 
ington  :  Government  Printing  Office,  1898. 

LIEBER,  G.  N.  —  Remarks  on  the  Army  Regulations,  and  Executive  Regu 
lations  in  General ;  by  G.  Norman  Lieber,  Judge- Advocate  General, 
U.  S.  Army.     Washington  :  Government  Printing  Office,  1898. 
LODGE,  H.  C.  —  Daniel  Webster  in  American  Statesmen  Series;  by 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge.     Boston  :  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  1889. 
LONGFELLOW,  H.  W.  —  The  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe,  with  Intro 
duction  and  Biographical  Notices;  by  Henry  Wadsworth  Long 
fellow.     New  York:  James  Miller,  1863. 

LONGFELLOW,  S.  —  Life  of  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow;  edited  by 
Samuel  Longfellow.  In  2  vols.  Boston  :  Ticknor  &  Co.,  1886. 


204  FRANCIS    LIEBER 

MALLESON,  G.  B.  —  Life  of  Prince  Metternich,  International  Statesmen 

Series ;  by  Colonel  G.  B.  Malleson.     Philadelphia :  J.  B.  Lippin- 

cott  Co.,  1888. 
MCPHERSON,  E.  —  The  Political  History  of  the  United  States  during  the 

Great  Rebellion ;  by  Hon.  Edward  McPherson.     New  York :   D. 

Appleton  &  Co.,  1864. 
MENZEL,  K.  —  Wolfgang  MenzePs    Denkwiirdigkeiten    Herausgegeben 

von  dem  Sohne,  Konrad  Menzel.     Leipzig,  1877. 
MENZEL,  W.  —  The  History  of  Germany  from  the  Earliest  Period   to 

1842  ;  by  Wolfgang  Menzel.     Translated  from  the  Fourth  German 

Edition  by  Mrs.  George  Horrocks.     3  vols.     London  :  George  Bell 

&  Sons,  1890. 
MERIWETHER,  C.  —  History  of  Higher  Education  in  South  Carolina; 

by    Colyer     Meriwether.       Washington  :     Government    Printing 

Office. 
METTERNICH,   PRINCE.  —  Memoirs   of  Prince   Metternich  ;    edited   by 

Prince  Richard  Metternich.     New  York  :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons, 

1880. 
MONROE,  W.  S.  —  Bibliography  of  Education ;  by  Will  S.  Monroe.    New 

York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  1897. 
MOORE,  N.  F.  —  Historical  Sketch  of  Columbia  College  in  the  City  of 

New  York ;  by  N.  F.  Moore.     New  York :  Printed  for  Columbia 

College,  1846. 
MULFORD,  E.  —  The   Nation :   The   Foundations   of  Civil  Order   and 

Political  Life  in  the  United  States ;  by  E.  Mulford.     New  York : 

Hurd  &  Houghton,  1871. 
MULLER,  W.  —  Political  History  of  Recent  Times,    1815-1875;    with 

special  reference  to  Germany ;   by  William  Miiller.     New  York : 

Harper  &  Brothers,  1897. 
NIEBUHR,  B.  G.  —  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Barthold  George  Niebuhr. 

New  York:  Harper  &  Brothers,  1852. 
OUVRY,  H.  A.  —  Stein,   and   his  Reforms   in   Prussia ;   by  Col.  H.  A. 

Ouvry,  C.B.     London:  Kerby  &  Endean,  1873. 
PALMER,  B.  M.  —  The  Life  and  Letters  of  James   Henry  Thornwell, 

D.D.,  LL.D.;  by  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.D.,  LL.D.     Richmond:  Whit- 

tet  &  Shepperson,  1875. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  2Oc 

PARKER,  F.  W.  — Talks  on  Pedagogics;  by  Francis  W.  Parker.     New 

York  :  E.  L.  Kellogg  &  Co. 

J>ERRY,  T.  S.  —  Life  and  Letters  of  Francis  Lieber ;  by  Thomas  Ser 
geant  Perry.     Boston  :  James  R.  Osgood  &  Co.,  1882. 
PHILLIPS,  W.  A.  — The  War  of  Greek  Independence,  1821-1833;  by 

W.  Alison  Phillips.     New  York  :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1897.' 
PIERCE,  E.  L.  —  Memoirs  and  Letters  of  Charles  Sumner;  by  Edward 

L.  Pierce.     Boston:  Roberts  Brothers,  1877. 
POMEROY,  J.  N.  —  An  Introduction  to  the  Constitutional  Law  of  the 

United  States ;   by  John   Norton  Pomeroy.     Boston :    Houghton, 

Mifflin  &  Co.,  1883. 
POORE,  B.  P.— Perley's  Reminiscences  of  Sixty  Years  in  the  National 

Metropolis;    by   Ben:    Perley    Poore.      Philadelphia:    Hubbard 

Brothers. 
RICHARDSON,  C.  F. — American  Literature,  1607-1885;  by  Charles  F. 

Richardson.     New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1891. 
RHODES,  J.  F.  — History  of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of 

1850;  by  James  Ford  Rhodes.     New  York :  Harper  &  Brothers, 

1896. 
ROGERS,  H.  W.  —  Constitutional  History  as   Seen  in  American  Law ; 

edited  by  Henry  Wade  Rogers.     New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons, 

1889. 
ROSENGARTEN,  J.  G.  —  The  German  Soldier  in  the  Wars  of  the  United 

States;  by  J.  G.   Rosengarten.     Second  edition,  revised  and  en 
larged.     Philadelphia :  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  1890. 
RUSSELL,  W.  —  The  History  of  Modern  Europe,  with  a  View  of  the 

Progress  of  Society  from  the  Rise  of  the  Modern  Kingdoms  to  the 

Peace  of  Paris  in  1763  ;  by  William  Russell,  LL.D.     3  vols.     New 

York:  Harper  &  Brothers,  1869. 
SEELEY,  J.  R.  —  Life  and  Times  of  Stein  :  or  Germany  and  Prussia  in 

the  Napoleonic  Age ;  by  J.  R.  Seeley,  M.  A.,  Regius  Professor  of 

Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.     2  vols.     Boston  : 

Roberts  Brothers,  1879. 
SIMS,  J.  M.  — The  Story  of  My  Life,  by  J.  Marion  Sims,  M.D.,  LL.D. ; 

edited  by  his  son,  H.  Marion  Sims,  M.D.     New  York  :  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co.,  1884. 


206  FRANCIS   LIEBER 

SIMMS,  W.  G.  —  The  History  of  South  Carolina  from  Its  First  European 
Discovery  to  Its  Erection  into  a  Republic ;  by  William  Gilmore 
Simms.  New  York  :  Redfield  &  Co.,  1860. 

STEFFENS,  H.  —  German  University  Life.  The  Story  of  my  Career  as 
Student  and  Professor ;  by  Heinrich  Steffens.  Philadelphia  :  J.  B. 
Lippincott  Co.,  1874. 

STORY,  J.  —  Life  and  Letters  of  Joseph  Story ;  edited  by  his  son,  Wil 
liam  W.  Story.  Boston  :  Little,  Brown  &  Co.,  1851. 

VON  HOLST,  H.  —  The  Constitutional  and  Political  History  of  the 
United  States ;  by  Dr.  Herman  von  Hoist.  Translated  from  the 
German  by  John  J.  Lalor  and  Alfred  B.  Mason.  Chicago :  Cal- 
laghan  &  Co.,  1877. 

VON  KOTZEBUE,  A.  —  Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Literary  Career  of  Augus 
tus  von  Kotzebue,  with  the  Journal  of  his  Tour  to  Paris  at  the  close 
of  the  year  1790 ;  written  by  himself.  Translated  from  the  German 
by  Anne  Plumptre.  London  :  H.  D.  Symonds,  1800. 

VON  RAUMER,  F. — America  and  the  American  People;  by  Frederick 
von  Raumer,  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Berlin. 
New  York :  J.  &  H.  G.  Langley,  1846. 

WILSON,  W.  —  Division  and  Reunion,  in  Epochs  of  American  History 
Series  ;  by  Woodrow  Wilson,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.  New  York  :  Longmans, 
Green  &  Co.,  1893. 

The  following  periodicals  contain  articles  relating  to  Lieber  and  his 
works : — 

American,  vol.  5,  p.  170. 

Appleton's  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  52,  p.  406. 

Critic,  vol.  2,  p.  351. 

Dial,  vol.  3,  p.  199. 

Harper's  Magazine,  vol.  48,  p.  63. 

Illinois  Wesleyan  Magazine,  vol.  i,  p.  i. 

International  Review,  vol.  8,  p.  50;  vol.  10,  p.  333. 

Literary  World,  vol.  13,  p.  393. 

Littell's  Living  Age,  vol.  117,  p.  125  ;  vol.  156,  p.  820. 

London  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  53,  p.  290. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  207 

Nation,  vol.  32,  p.  189. 

New  York  Evening  Post,  October  30,  1860. 

New  York  Tribune,  October  3,  1872. 

North  American  Review,  vol.  34,  p.  262  ;  vol.  43,  p.  120. 

Putnam's  Monthly,  vol.  2,  p.  566. 

Saturday  Review,  vol.  55,  p.  90. 

Scribner's  Magazine,  vol.  6,  p.  711. 

Southern  Literary  Messenger,  vol.  2,  p.  535  ;  vol.  22,  p.  366. 

The  Edinburgh  Review,  April,  1841. 


INDEX 


ADAMS,  H.  B.,  history  and  politics  as 
coordinated  sciences,  91. 

Allibone,  S.  A.,  161. 

Arndt,  E.  M.,  a  younger  German  poet,  15. 

Austin,  Mrs.,  dedication  of  "Reminis 
cences"  to,  41;  befriends  Lieber  in 
London,  49. 

Barnard,  F.  A.  P.,  president  of  Columbia 
College,  93;  discourages  the  course 
in  modern  history,  94;  at  Lieber's 
funeral,  191. 

Barrows,  S.  J.,  152. 

Basle,  University  of,  43. 

Belligerents,  status  of,  144. 

Berlin,  pillaged  by  the  Russians,  2; 
society  in,  5 ;  taken  by  Napoleon,  6. 

Bliicher,  anxiety  to  deliver  Prussia,  18; 
his  ancestors,  19  note. 

Bluntschli,  J.  K.,  97,  128;  his  opinion  of 
Lieber's  services  to  international  law, 
141;  interested  in  a  congress  of  na 
tions,  142;  tribute  to  Lieber,  147;  his 
personal  relations  with  Lieber,  178, 
1 80  note  ;  his  library,  179. 

Bond,  Dr.  49. 

Boston,  45,  49,  51,  55,  59. 

Buchanan,  election  of,  160. 

Burgess,  J.  W.,  succeeds  Lieber  at  Colum 
bia  College,  95,  97;  opinion  of  Lieber's 
writings,  127  note. 

Burschenschaft,  organized  in  the  univer 
sities,  24;  at  Jena,  26;  abolished  by 
the  government,  28;  secret  clubs  simi 
lar  to,  43. 


Calhoun,  J.  C,  letters  to,  from  Lieber, 
159. 

Calvinism,  in  South  Carolina,  74,  75, 
181,  182. 

Carlsbad,  decrees  of,  28. 

"Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government,"  71, 
81,  117,  132-137. 

Colberg,  defence  of,  by  Schill,  7;  regi 
ment  of,  1 8,  19;  Jahn,  imprisoned  at, 
28. 

Columbia  College,  changes  in  the  college 
course,  82;  removal  to  a  new  site,  83; 
suggestions  on  Columbia  University, 
84-88;  post-graduate  course,  89;  Lie 
ber's  call  to,  90;  changes  in  the  work 
of  the  college,  93;  the  Columbia  Law 
School,  96. 

Constitution  of  the  United  States,  130, 

139- 

Construction,  nature  of,  130;  construc 
tion  of  constitutions,  131. 

Cooper,  Dr.  Thomas,  career  in  South 
Carolina  College,  67;  his  early  life, 
67;  troubles  with  the  government, 
67;  Jefferson's  opinion  of,  68;  be 
comes  president  of  the  college,  68; 
religious  views,  68;  opposition  to,  69. 

Cotta,  Johann  F.,  employs  Lieber  as  a 
correspondent,  54;  a  prominent  pub 
lisher,  54  note. 

Czar  of  Russia,  interference  of,  in  Ger 
man  affairs,  25. 

Dana,  J.  D.,  professor  in  Columbia  Col 
lege,  89. 


209 


2IO 


INDEX 


Davis,  G.  B.,  views  of,  on  international 
law,  148,  149. 

De  Tocqueville,  visited  by  Lieber,  78; 
report  of,  on  American  prisons,  137. 

Droysen,  Johann  G.,  96. 

Dunning,  W.  A.,  views  of,  on  American 
political  literature,  120  and  note. 

Dwight,  T.  W.,  professor  of  law  in  Co 
lumbia  College,  90;  his  success  in  the 
Law  School,  96. 

Education,  Lieber's  early  interest  in,  59, 
60,  82;  his  views  on,  100;  education 
and  crime,  101;  national  education, 
103;  political  value  of,  112. 

Emigration  from  Germany,  i;  Menzel's 
views  of,  I. 

"Encyclopaedia  Americana,"  55;  its  suc 
cess,  58. 

Euphradian  Society,  Lieber  expelled 
from  membership  in,  162. 

Fish,  Hamilton,  90,  145. 

Follen,  Charles,  poetry  of,  13;  his  early 
life,  44;  professor  at  Jena  and  Giessen, 
44;  takes  refuge  in  Switzerland,  44; 
escape  to  America,  44;  professor  at 
Harvard,  45;  tragic  death,  45. 

France,  revolutionary  movements  in,  4; 
treaty  with  the  princes  of  western 
Germany,  5;  exactions  levied  on 
Prussia,  8;  Lieber's  hatred  of,  157. 

Franco-Prussian  War,  sale  of  arms  by 
the  United  States  in,  143;  use  of  Lie 
ber's  "Instructions"  in,  154. 

Frederick  the  Great,  4. 

Free  trade,  advocated  by  Lieber,  164. 

Fremont,  J.  C,  162. 

French  philosophy,  4. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  58,  168. 
Garelli,  the  Italian  publicist,  140. 
Garfield,  presents  to  Congress  a  bill  on 
immigration,  prepared  by  Lieber,  146. 
General  Orders,  No.   100,  93;    adopted 


in  the  army,  149;  humane  character 
of,  150;  adopted  by  great  writers  on 
the  law  of  war,  153. 

Germany,  loss  of  national  energy  in,  3; 
forms  of  immorality  in,  4;  alliance 
with  Napoleon,  5;  miserable  condi 
tion  of  the  army,  6;  efforts  to  arouse 
patriotism  in,  10-16;  devotion  of  the 
people,  14;  impulses  to  free  political 
thought,  21;  new  constitutional  sys 
tem,  22;  in  ancient  times,  24;  censor 
ship  of  the  press  and  universities,  42; 
secret  clubs,  43;  revolutionary  move 
ments  of  1848,  79;  riots  in,  80 ;  ac 
quires  French  territory,  143;  Lieber's 
love  for,  155. 

Giessen,  University  of,  44. 

Girard  College,  plan  of  organization,  60; 
opinion  of  Edward  Livingston,  61; 
Lieber's  plan  in  detail,  100. 

Gorres,  Joseph  J.,  editor  of  the  Rhenish. 
Mercury,  23;  a  pamphleteer,  23  note. 

Greek  revolution,  29;  extent  of  the  up 
rising,  29;  sympathy  of  the  Germans, 
30;  wretched  condition  of  the  Greeks, 

31- 

Grotius,  Hugo,  144. 

Guyot,  Arnold,  89. 

Gymnasia,   establishment   of,    10;    their 

influence  on  the  youth,  14;  closed  by 

the  government,  28. 

Halle,  loss  of  the  University  of,  9;  Lieber 

a  student  at,  29,  168. 
Halleck,  93,  149,  154. 
Hartung,  Professor,  Lieber's  teacher,  3. 
Hillard,  G.  S.,  16,  90;    his  assistance  to 

Lieber,  123;   Lieber's  correspondence 

with,  159,  171. 
History,  the  United  States  and  France 

high  schools  of  history,  106;    history 

in  American  colleges,  106;   the  teacher 

of  history,  115. 
Hitzig,  Chancellor  von,  46. 
Holy  Alliance,  a  means  of  suppressing 


INDEX 


211 


demands  for  popular  government,  22; 
an  instrument  of  Prince  Metternich,  42. 

Immigration,  restrictions  favored  by  Lie- 
ber,  145;  a  national  board  of,  pro 
posed,  145. 

Institutional  liberty,  136. 

International  law,  141;  Lieber's  chief 
interest,  142;  methods  of  arbitration, 
144;  international  copyright,  146. 

Interpretation,  meaning  of,  130;  inter 
pretation  of  constitutions,  131. 

Jgequemyns,  G.  R.,  tribute  to  Lieber, 
147,  148  note. 

Jahn,  Friedrich  Ludwig,  system  of  gym 
nastics,  10;  early  life  of,  10;  his  meth 
ods,  ii;  his  relations  with  Lieber,  21; 
imprisonment,  28;  invited  to  America, 

45- 
Jena,   University   of,    24;    patriotism  of 

the  students,  25;    the  Burschenschaft 

of,  26;   Lieber  takes  his  degree  at,  29. 
Jones,  C.  C,  historian  of  Georgia,  108. 
Jural,  a  jural  society,  126;    word  coined 

by  Lieber,  126  note. 

Kent,  Chancellor,  lecturer  at  Columbia, 

96;   opinion  of  the  "  Political  Ethics," 

129  and  note. 
King  of  Prussia,  visited  by  Lieber,  78; 

interested  in  our  prison   system,   78; 

offers  Lieber  a  position,  79. 
Kopenick,   prison    at,   43;     tribunal    of 

inquisition  at,  44;    Lieber  imprisoned 

at,  45- 

Korner,  Carl  T.,  love  of  liberty,  15;  his 
poetry,  15. 

Kotzebue,  Augustus  von,  a  spy  for  Russia, 
25;  his  literary  abilities,  26;  his  mur 
der,  27. 

La  Borde,  M.,  historian  of  South  Caro 
lina  College,  77;  account  of  Lieber  as 
a  teacher,  no;  describes  Lieber's  love 


of  the  beautiful,  185;    tribute  to  Lie 
ber's  character,  1 88. 

Lancastrian  schools,  48,  IOO. 

"  Legal  and  Political  Hermeneutics,"  70; 
purpose  of  the  work,  130;  its  favor 
able  reception,  131. 

Lieber,  Francis,  early  life,  2;  school 
days,  3;  relations  with  General  Schill, 
7;  becomes  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Jahn,  ii; 
in  the  Waterloo  campaign,  17-21;  in 
the  Gray  Cloister  gymnasium,  21; 
joins  a  secret  association,  27;  arrest 
and  imprisonment,  28;  receives  his 
degree  at  Jena,  29;  embarks  for 
Greece,  30;  goes  to  Rome,  33;  meets 
the  historian,  Niebuhr,  34;  becomes  a 
member  of  Niebuhr's  family,  36;  his 
advantages  at  Rome,  38;  leaves  Rome 
for  Berlin,  41 ;  studies  in  the  Uni 
versity,  42;  imprisoned  at  Kopenick, 
43 ;  decides  to  leave  Germany,  47 ;  be 
comes  a  tutor  in  London,  48;  accepts 
directorship  of  the  Boston  gymnasium, 
49;  takes  passage  for  New  York,  49; 
takes  charge  of  the  gymnasium,  53; 
writes  for  the  German  papers,  54; 
edits  an  encyclopaedia,  55-58;  his  mar 
riage,  58;  his  family,  59;  writes  a 
plan  for  Girard  College,  60;  schemes 
of  authorship,  61-64;  relations  with 
Sumner,  64;  professor  of  history  and 
political  economy  in  South  Carolina 
College,  66;  his  Southern  exile,  70; 
longing  for  the  North,  71,  72;  oppo 
sition  to,  in  the  South,  73;  defeated 
for  the  college  presidency,  75;  resig 
nation,  76;  removal  to  New  York,  77; 
visits  Europe,  78;  prepares  a  plan  for 
Columbia  College,  84-88;  elected  pro 
fessor  of  history  and  political  science, 
90;  his  active  life  in  the  North,  92; 
his  career  in  the  Law  School,  96;  his 
services  in  the  War  Department,  98; 
his  views  on  education,  100-107;  his 
methods  of  teaching,  108-112;  his 


212 


INDEX 


high  ideals  as  a  teacher,  112-116; 
his  political  philosophy,  117-137;  in 
terest  in  penal  law,  137;  interest  in 
the  law  of  nations,  141-148;  con 
tributions  to  military  law,  148-154; 
as  an  American,  155;  his  hatred  of 
France,  157;  his  views  on  slavery, 
159-161;  his  sorrows,  163;  interest 
in  free  trade,  164;  lack  of  partisan 
zeal,  1 66;  range  of  his  studies,  168; 
methods  of  work,  169;  interest  in 
literature,  171;  his  correspondence, 
173;  on  bad  terms  with  Sumner,  176; 
relations  with  Dr.  Bluntschli,  178;  his 
papers  in  Johns  Hopkins  library,  180; 
religious  views,  181 ;  a  lover  of  the  fine 
arts,  184;  love  of  the  beautiful,  185; 
a  favorite  in  society,  1 86;  simplicity 
of  his  character,  189;  his  death,  190. 

Lieber,  Guido  Norman,  son  of  Francis 
Lieber,  59  and  note. 

Lieber,  Hamilton,  son  of  Francis  Lieber, 
59  and  note  ;  wounded  at  Fort  Donel- 
son,  163. 

Lieber,  Oscar  Montgomery,  son  of  Fran 
cis  Lieber,  58,  59  note;  died  in  the 
Confederate  service,  163. 

Loyal  Publication  Society,  92. 

Marsh,  G.  P.,  professor  in  Columbia  Col 
lege,  89. 

Menzel,  views  on  German  emigration,  I ; 
his  account  of  society  in  Germany,  4. 

Metternich,  Prince,  despotism  of,  22; 
continues  his  policy  of  oppression, 
42. 

Mexican   Claims,  Lieber  umpire  of,  98, 

99- 

Military  Law,  93,  148-154. 

Mittermaier,  receives  letters  from  Lieber, 
71,  72;  visited  by  Lieber,  80;  trans 
lates  the  "  Civil  Liberty  "  into  German, 
136;  his  regard  for  Lieber,  174. 

Miiller,  Wilhelm,  describes  the  state  of 
Europe,  29. 


Napoleon,  threatens  Germany,  3;  makes 
treaty  with  western  Germany,  5 ;  enters 
Berlin,  6;  defeat  in  Russia,  14;  escape 
from  Elba,  17. 

Nation,  Lieber's  definition  of,  140. 

National  University,  Lieber  urges  the  es 
tablishment  of,  103-105. 

Natural  law,  the  science  of,  125. 

Niebuhr,  Ba'rthold  George,  minister  to 
Rome,  35;  assists  Lieber,  36;  char 
acter  of,  38;  his  view  of  history,  40; 
resigns  the  embassy  at  Rome,  40; 
visits  Lieber  in  prison,  46;  recom 
mends  Lieber  for  a  position,  47;  his 
opinion  of  University  College,  London, 
48;  urges  Lieber  to  remain  a  German, 
50;  recommends  Lieber  to  Baron 
Cotta,  53. 

Ohm,  Dr.,  Lieber  studies  with,  42. 
Oppenheimer,  Mr.,  Lieber  teaches  in  the 

family    of,   48;     Lieber    marries    the 

daughter,  Matilda,  58. 

Pauli,  teaches  Lieber  theology,  3. 
Penology,  Lieber's  interest  in,  64,  137, 

138. 

"  Political  Ethics,"  47,  70;  plan  of  the 
work,  122;  completion  of,  123;  key 
note  of,  124;  favorable  reception  of, 
128,  129. 

Preston,  William  C.,  74,  76. 

Prussia,  the  army  of,  6;  loss  of  territory, 
8;  establishes  a  university,  9;  tyranny 
of,  43,  44;  tendency  of,  in  1844,  73; 
Lieber  visits,  78;  riots  in  1848,  80. 

Ranke,  Leopold  von,  105. 
Rationalism,  spread  of,  in  Prussia,  4. 
Rebel  Archives,  classified  by  Lieber,  98. 
"Reminiscences  of  Niebuhr,"  41,  169. 
Revival  of  poetry,  15. 
Rhenish  Mercury,  complaints  of,  against 

the   government,  23;    suppression   of, 

23- 


INDEX 


213 


Rome,  Lieber  goes  to,  34;  resides  there 

a  year,  36. 
Rtickert,  one  of  the  younger  poets,  15. 

Sand,  Karl  Ludwig,  at  Jena,  26;  his 
character,  27;  assassinates  Kotzebue, 
27 ;  suffers  penalty  of  death,  27. 

Schenkendorf,  poetry  of,  15. 

Schill,  General,  defends  Colberg,  7; 
meets  Lieber,  8. 

Schools  of  law  and  politics,  1 19. 

Scientific  "clover-leaf,"  178,  180  note. 

Seeley,  J.  R.,  his  account  of  German 
literature,  10. 

Seward,  W."  H.,  Lieber  writes  to,  on  arbi 
tration,  144. 

Sims,  Dr.,  opinion  of  Dr.  Cooper,  68. 

Slavery,  70;  Lieber's  hatred  of,  71; 
his  views  on,  expressed  to  Calhoun, 

159. 

Society  for  alleviating  the  miseries  of 
prisons,  138. 

South  Carolina  College,  professorship  in, 
66;  reorganization  of,  66;  Dr.  Cooper's 
career  in,  67;  Lieber  a  candidate  for 
the  presidency  of,  75;  Dr.  la  Borde, 
historian  of  the  College,  77. 

Southern  Literary  Messenger,  7,  38 
note. 

Sovereignty,  of  the  State,  127;  an  at 
tribute  of  society,  127. 

Sparks,  Jared,  Lieber  suggests  various 
schemes  to,  62;  professor  of  history  in 
Harvard,  106. 

State,  the,  a  jural  society,  126;  Lieber's 
theory  of,  126. 

Story,  Judge,  assists  Lieber  with  his  en 
cyclopaedia,  56  and  note  ;  recommends 
Lieber  for  a  professorship,  66;  death 
of,  74. 


Sumner,  Charles,  friendship  for  Lieber, 
64;  extensive  correspondence,  64; 
quarrels  with  Lieber  on  the  slavery 
question,  176-178;  Sumner's  charac 
ter,  178  note. 

Thayer,  M.  Russell,  30;  friendship  for 
Lieber,  1 1 1 ;  describes  Lieber's  meth 
ods  of  teaching,  1 1 1 ;  refers  to  Lieber's 
attachment  to  America,  155;  describes 
Lieber's  student  life,  169;  describes 
Lieber's  sympathies,  186;  gives  an 
account  of  Lieber's  home  life,  189. 

Thornwell,  James  H.,  resigns  presidency 
of  South  Carolina  College,  74;  pre 
vents  Lieber's  election,  75. 

Tilsit,  treaty  of,  8;  stipulations  of,  9. 

Tugendbund,  9,  23. 

Turnschulen,  n. 

Universities,  influence  of,  on  national 
life,  103;  in  arbitrations,  144. 

University  College,  founding  of,  48,  52 
note. 

University  of  Berlin,  opening  of,  9;  in 
fluence  of,  103. 

Van  Amringe,  J.  H.,  character  of  Lieber's 
work,  92,  97. 

Waite,  Justice,  121. 
Walker,  R.  J.,  164. 
Warren,  Dr.  John,  interested  in  Boston 

gymnasium,   45;     receives    Lieber  at 

Boston,  51. 

Waterloo,  campaign  of,  17-21. 
White,  Andrew  D.,  94;  describes  Lieber's 

lack  of  partisan  zeal,  166. 
Woolsey,   T.   D.,   preparing  his   works, 

107;   on  Lieber's  character,  118  note. 


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